\
Stnber tbt .Supcnntínoítta of % jstoriiig for % ^«sírbaíion anír publication of tbe
l^lííobiís of Jfrttairo.
I
THE PETRIE COLLECTION
OF THK
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
ARRANGED FOR THE PIANO-FORTE.
EDITED BY
GEORGE PETRIE, LLD., R.H.A., Y.P.R.I.A.,
FOREIGN MEMBER OF THE IMPERIAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF FRANCE; HONORARY FELLOW OF THE ROYAL SOCIETIES OF ANTIQUARIES
OF SCOTLAND, COPENHAGEN, ETC. ETC. ;
PRESIDENT OF THE SOCIETY.
VOL. T,
\
' ' • •»« » • »'■ 1
DUBLIN:
3PrtntEiJ at too ^Hníbersítg $rcss,
FOR THE SOCIETY FOR THE PRESERVATION AND PUBLICATION OF THE MELODIES OF IRELAND,
BY M. H. GILL.
1855.
C/
[«!BntcreiJ at Stationers' i^all.]
HOW TO FIND THE TIME IN WHICH EACH AIR IS TO BE PLAYED.
The Time of each Air in this Volume is marked at the head by reference to the stroke of a Pendulum
of a certain length. Persons not provided with a Metronome may easily ascertain for themselves the
ti'ue time in which any Air is to be played, by the following simple rule. Take a cord of the length
in inches assigned to the Pendulum at the head of the tune. To one end of the chord attach a small
weight, and, holding it by the other extremity, let the weighted chord, thus converted into a tem-
porary Pendulum, swing gently backwards and forwards. The oscillations of a Pendulum of a given
length are always constant, and measure exactly equal portions of time ; and thus each beat of the Pen-
dulum of the length required — the motion from right to left constituting one beat ; that from left to
right another — marks the time during which the crotchet, dotted crotchet, quaver, or other note used
to measure the time, is to be sounded. A proportionate time is to be given to every other note accord-
ing to its musical value. A little practice will very soon enable any one to perceive, almost involun-
tarily, the accordance in time between the beats of a Pendulum and the proper duration of the notes of
an Air.
SOCIETY
!raerkíÍ0it raft jpnblication of % |0tótotáes aí frelanÍL
FOUNDED DECEMBER, 1851.
GEORGE PETRIE, LL.D., R.H.A., V.P.R.I.A.
THE MOST NOBLE THE MARQUESS OF KILDARE, M.R.1A.
THE RIGHT HON. THE EARL OF DUNRAVEN, M. R. I. A.
THE RIGHT HON. THE EARL OF BECTIVE.
THE RIGHT HON. LORD TALBOT DE MALAHTDE, M. R. I. A.
THE RIGHT HON. LORD ROSSMORE, M. R. L A.
THE RIGHT HON. THE LORD CHIEF BARON'. M. R.I.A.
THE RIGHT HON. ALEXANDER MAC DOXXELL.
SIR VERE DE VERE. BART.
PATRICK MAC DO WELL, R. A.
SDH GEORGE F. HUDSON, BART.
(ínmmi.
THOMAS BEATTY, M. D., M. R. L A.
FRANCIS WILLIAM BRADY.
F. W. BURTON, R. H. A., M. R. L A.
ROBERT CALL WELL, M.R.LA., Treasurer.
EDWARD CLEMENTS.
EUGENE CURRY, M. R. t A.
JOHN C. DEANE, M. R. L A.
JOHN T. GILBERT, M. R. I. A.
REV. CHAS. GRAVES, D.D., F.T.C.D., V.P.R.LA.
BENJAMIN LEE GUINNESS.
THOMAS RICE HENN.
HENRY HUDSON, M.D., M. R. L A.
ROBERT D. LYONS, M. B., M. R. L A., Secretary.
SAMUEL MACLEAN.
JOHN MACDONNELL, M.D., M.R.LA, P.L.Com.
HON. GEORGE PONSONBY O CALLAGHAN.
JOHN EDWARD PIGOT, >L R. I A., Secretary.
WILLLAM STOKES, M. D., M. R. L A
WALTER SWEETMAN, M.R.I. A.
W. K. SULLIVAN.
JOSEPH HUBAND S5UTH M. R. L A.
REV. JAS. H. TODD, D.D., S.F.T.C.D., Sec. R.I.A
W. R. WILDE, M. R. L A.
23nn. €xtmám.
ROBERT CALLWELL, M.R.I. A., 10, Bachblor's-walk, Dublin.
23nn. frrrrtarirs.
JOHN EDWARD PIGOT, M. R. I. A., 96, Leeson-6treet, Dublin.
ROBERT D. LYONS, M. B., M. R. I. A., 31, Upper Merrion-street, Dublin.
Subscriptions, £1 a year, received (either personally, or by P. 0. Orders) by the Treasurer, the Secretaries, or by Mr. EDWARD CLXBBOEN .
at the Royal Irish Academy, Dawson-street.
AGENTS
Dublin — H. Bussell, Westmoreland-street.
Cork — A. D. Roche & Son, Patrick- street.
Belfast — Coffey, Music-seller.
Limerick — Corbett & Son, 109 and 110, George's-street
Derry — J. Hempton, The Diamond.
Copies may be had, likewise, from the Hon. Secretaries or the Treasurer
Galwat — J. Costello, "William-street.
London — Cramer, Beale, and Chappell, 201, Regent-street.
Hull — J. W. Holder, 1, Whitefriar-gate.
Edinburgh — Messrs. Wood & Coy, Music-sellers, Waterloo-place.
Glasgow — Messrs. Wood.
The Preservation and Publication of the immense quantity of National Music still existing in Ireland, and of
which much is yet unwritten, have long been a desideratum among those who are acquainted with the great
extent and value of some private collections. Among these lie, almost unknown, many hundreds of airs hitherto
unpublished in any form, and which range through every class of pure Irish Music, from the most elevated style
of ancient vocal melody, down to the smooth-flowing graceful songs of the last two centuries; and among which
are preserved, very many, too, of those vigorous, dance-compelling, quick tunes, which cannot be equalled by any
similar music of other countries. Besides these collections, a considerable quantity of airs, not yet noted down,
is to be found current, as is well known, among the peasantry in all parts of the country.
( vi )
This Society has been instituted for the purpose of Preserving, Classifying, and Publishing these airs of every
kind, and likewise all such words (whether in the Irish or English language) connected with any of them, as
appear to possess any peculiar interest.
The Preservation of existing Irish Music is proposed to be effected by the collection and classification of all
such as has been already noted down on paper, and by the formation of a central depot in Dublin, to which
persons having opportunities of noting down what is still unwritten* may be invited to send copies of any airs
which they can obtain, either in Ireland or among our countrymen in other lands.
The Council invites every Irishman, and every Irishwoman too, to send copies of any Irish airs they may
possess, or may find any means of procuring, to one of the Honorary Secretaries, who will immediately submit all
airs sent them to the Committee charged with their arrangement and preservation.
The Publication of our National Music will also be proceeded with by the Society, to the utmost extent that
the subscriptions they may receive will allow. It is proposed to print a selection, consisting of. several hundred
airs of all kinds, both vocal and instrumental, and to arrange them with suitable Harmonies and Accompaniments
for the Harp or Piano-Forte. A volume of such selections (containing from 150 to 200 airs, hitherto unpub-
lished) will be given to every member, in return for his subscription of One Pound ; and the Council have
already at their disposal the materials of more than five such volumes, which will also include copious notes upon
the structure, expression, and (where possible) the history of each air printed.
These volumes will not be published generally, but will be distributed to the members of the Society only ;
any person may become a member on payment of One Pound, annual subscription, but without any entrance fee.
Subscriptions are payable in advance, and become due on the first of January in each year, and each member will
be entitled to receive one copy of every publication of the Society issued within the year for which he shall have
subscribed. [Members may take their books, either in volumes complete, at the end of the year, or in parts con-
sisting of a certain number of sheets, stitched in a strong cover, which will be issued according as the work is
printed.]
The Council have completed arrangements with the President, George Petrie, LL. D., V. P. R. L A., for
the printing of his splendid collection in connexion with the Society, and they feel great satisfaction in being able
to announce that their first volumes will comprise his invaluable stores. That collection consists of considerably
more than five hundred unpublished airs, carefully selected from the results of many years' investigation ; and if
the Society obtains the amount of support the Council feel it may well claim, they hope to complete the printing
of Dr. Petrie's work in three volumes.
The Collection of Dr. Petrie will be accompanied by an introductory dissertation upon the history, antiquity,
and characteristic structure of Irish Music, by that most eminent Irish antiquarian, the former portions of which
will also embrace the learning of another distinguished member of the Council, Eugene Curry, M. R. I. A.
After such a commencement the Council will proceed to the publication of other collections which have already
been presented to the Society, and which will be prepared for printing under the superintendence of a Committee
of Publication, appointed by the Council, and including, perhaps, the most competent authorities on Irish
Music now among us: [the Committee appointed on the formation of the Society consisted of Dr. Petrie (Presi-
dent), Rev. Dr. Todd,S. F. T. C. D., Rev. Dr. Graves, F. T. C. D., thelate W. E. Hudson, M.R.I.A., Dr. Hudson,
M. R. I. A., and Eugene Curry, M. R. I. A.] Thus the Council do not think it too much to expect that the
volumes eventually completed by this Society will contain a complete, satisfactory, and popular explanation of
the structure, character, and peculiarities of Irish National Music, an accurate account of its history as far as
known (and it reaches back for many centuries), and a Collection which in extent, rarity, and beauty, will surpass
anything of the kind ever attempted. The genius and expression of our Music will thus be fixed, and its noblest
stores preserved for the admiration of future ages, and the perpetual pride of the Irish race.
g|p° The first volume of the Society, now completed, consists of the first volume of the Petrie Collection, and
contains 147 airs, arranged for the Piano-Forte, illustrated by a great quantity of criticism and observations. The
Dissertation upon the History, Antiquity, and Structure of Irish Music, by the Editor, is in preparation, but cannot be
satisfactorily published until the completion of his editorial labours upon this splendid collection.
The Council desire to make it known, that according to the arrangements with their President, by which he con-
sented to publish his great work in connexion with the Society, the property in the Petrie Collection is exclusively vested
in Dr. Petrie, after those members of the Society icho shall have paid their subscriptions during the present year shall
have received their copies ; and accordingly, that members joining after the 1st January, 1856, will have to purchase
this volume at an advanced price. The Council have also to observe, that Dr. Petrie^s collection has been edited and
prepared for the Press solely by himself, and not under the control of the Committee of Publication, and that Dr. Petrie
alone is responsible for the opinions contained in the present volume.
INTRODUCTION.
Though aware that, in works not of a purely scientific nature, and which -will be chiefly
opened with a view to amusement, a Preface receives but little attention from the majority
of readers; yet I cannot refrain from availing myself of the old privilege accorded to
Authors and Editors to offer a few prefatory remarks on the occasion of presenting to the
public this First Volume of a Collection of Irish Tunes, which I have edited under the
patriotic auspices of the " Society for the Preservation and Publication of the Melodies of
Ireland."
In the first place, I feel it due to that Society, and more particularly to some of the
most zealous members of its Committee, to state that, but for their solicitation and warm
encouragement, it is not at all likely that I should have entered on the compilation of a
work requiring, necessarily, not only a great devotion of time and labour, but also an amount
of varied talents and powers of research, scarcely to be hoped for in any single individual,
and to the possession of which I, at least, could make but little pretension.
A passionate lover of music from my childhood, and of melody especially — that di-
vine essence without which music is but as a soulless body — the indulgence of this passion
has been, indeed, one of the great, if not the greatest, sources of happiness of my life.
Coupled with a never-fading love for nature, audits consequent attendant, an appreciation
of the good and beautiful, it has refreshed and reinvigorated my spirits when depressed by
the fatigues of mental labour. In the hours of worldly trials, of cares and sorrows, I have
felt its power to soothe and console; to restrain from the pursuit of worthless and debasing
pleasures, — of soul-corrupting worldly ambitions, destructive of mental peace ; and to give
contentment in an humble station.
But, though I have been thus for my whole life a devoted lover of music, and more par-
ticularly of the melodies of my country — which are, as I conceive, the most beautiful na-
tional melodies in the world — neither the study nor the practice of this divine art has ever
been with me an absorbing or continuous one, or anything more than the occasional indul-
gence of a pleasure, during hours of relaxation from the fatigues of other studies, or the
vm
■
INTRODUCTION.
general business of life. It was in this way only that I acquired any little knowledge or
skill which I may possess in the practice of the musical art ; and, until lately, it was in
this way only that I gradually formed the large collection of Irish melodies of which a por-
tion is now submitted to the public. From my very boy-days, whenever I heard an air
which in any degree touched my feelings, or which appeared to me to be either an unpub-
lished one, or a better version of an air than what had been already printed, I never
neglected to note it down ; and my summer ramblings through most parts of Ireland, for
objects more immediately connected with my professional pursuits, afforded me opportuni-
ties, for a long period almost annually, for increasing the collection which so early in life I
had felt a desire, and considered it as a kind of duty, to endeavour to form.
In making such collection, however, I never seriously thought of giving even any portion
of it to the public in my own name. The desire to preserve what I deemed so worthy of
preservation, and so honourable to the character of my country, was my sole object and my
sole stimulus in this, to me, exciting and delightful pursuit : and hence I was ever ready to
encourage and aid, to the utmost of my ability, all persons whom, from their professional
talents as well as their freedom from other occupations, I deemed better qualified than
myself to give such collection to the world.
Thus, as early as 1807, or 1808, I communicated, through my friend the late Richard
Wrightson, Esq., M. A., a number of airs to the poet Moore, some of which subsequently
appeared, for the first time, in his "Irish Melodies;" and shortly afterwards I gave a much
larger number to my then young friend the late Francis Holden, Mus. Doc, and which
were printed in his collection ; and amongst these were many airs — such as " Lough
Sheelin," "Arrah, my dear Eeeleen," and "Luggela" — on which time has stamped her mark
of approval, and which have carried the deepest emotions of pleasure to thousands of hearts
in almost every part of the globe. For it was from this collection, which — with the excep-
tion of Bunting's three volumes — has been the only published collection of our melodies of
any importance worthy of a respectful notice, that Moore derived many of those airs which
his poetry has consecrated and made familiar to the world. And I may further state, that
my contributions to Mr. Moore's admirable work, as well directly as indirectly, did not end
here ; for, subsequently to the publication of Frank Holden's volume, I again supplied the
poet, through his Irish publisher, Mr. William Power, with several other airs, which found
a place in the later numbers of his " Melodies," and among these was that beautiful one
called " Were I a clerk," but now better known as " You remember Ellen."
In thus imparting to others the results of my young enthusiasm for the preservation of
our melodies, I never asked, and so never obtained, even the acknowledgment, to which I
might have felt myself justly entitled, of having my name coupled with those airs as their
preserver : nor is it from any vain or egotistical feeling that I state such circumstances now,
INTRODUCTION.
ix
but as simple facts in the history of the preservation of our music that might be looked for
hereafter, and which, without such statement, would be looked for in vain.
But to resume: retaining, with even an increasing zeal, my ardour in collecting the
melodies of Ireland, I found in the course of a few years that my gatherings had amounted
to a number but little short of two hundred as yet unpublished airs ; and, with a view to
their being secured to the public with suitable harmonies, I presented them to a lady, now
long deceased, who to other varied accomplishments added a sound professional knowledge
of music, and who possessed a true feeling for Irish melody. The lady to whom, with a
grateful reminiscence, I thus allude, was the late Mrs. Joseph Hughes, the daughter of
Smollet Holden, the most eminent British composer of military music in his time, and the
sister of my young friend, Dr. Francis Holden, to whose published collection of Irish melo-
dies I had been, as already stated, so large a contributor. But the untimely death of this
most estimable lady prevented the accomplishment of this project, after some progress had
been made in preparing the work for publication.
Still adding to my collection, however, and indulging in the expectation that an oppor-
tunity for giving it publicity would sooner or later occur, I thought such expectation likely
to be realized when, at a later period of my life, I formed a close intimacy with the late Mr.
Edward Bunting. This intimacy, which had its origin in, at least, one common taste,
occurred shortly after the publication of the second volume of that gentleman's collection ;
and with the double object in view of giving my airs publicity, and, still more, of stimu-
lating him to the preparation of a third volume for publication, I freely offered him the use
of the whole of my collection, or such portions of it as he might choose to select. Such
offer was, however, accompanied by one condition, namely, that in connexion with such
tunes as.he chose to accept from me, he should make an acknowledgment in his work that
I had been their contributor. This condition, however — which I thought a not unrea-
sonable one, but rather suggestive of a course which, in all similar cases, as supplying a sort
of evidence of authenticity, should have been followed — had the effect of preventing the
accomplishment of my wish that Mr. Bunting should be the medium through which my
collection of airs should be given to the public. After the acceptance of some five and
twenty or more airs — of which, however, he printed only seventeen — my friend sturdily
refused to take even one more ; assigning as his reason that, as he should acknowledge the
source from which they had been derived, the public would say that the greater and better
portion of the work was mine. In my primary object, however — that of stimulating him
to the preparation and publication of his third volume — I had the satisfaction of believing
that I had been more decidedly successful. The threat, put forward in playful insincerity,
but which was taken rather seriously, that if he did not bestir himself in the preparation of
his work, I might probably, by the publication of my own collection, anticipate him in the
e
x INTRODUCTION.
printing of many of his best airs, coupled with Mrs. Bunting's, as well as my own con-
tinual goadings — and which he was accustomed to say had made his life miserable — had
ultimately the desired effect of exciting into activity a temperament which, if it had ever
been naturally active, had then, at all events, ceased to be so from the pressure of years,
and of a state of health which was far from vigorous. After the devotion of his leisure
hours for several years to the collecting together of his materials, and the patient elabora-
tion of his harmonic arrangements of the airs, Mr. Bunting gave to the world the third and
last volume of his collections ; and I confess that its appearance afforded me a more than
ordinary pleasure, not only on account of the many very beautiful melodies which it con-
tained, but also from a feeling that my zeal in urging on their publication had been instru-
mental, to some extent, in their preservation. For it was Mr. Bunting's boast, that, with the
exception of those airs which had been drawn from previously published works, the settings
of his tunes would be wholly worthless to any other person into whose hands they might
ultimately fall ; and this I knew to have been not altogether an idle boast ; for those set-
tings were — as it would appear intentionally — but jottings down of dots, or heads of notes,
without any musical expressions of their value with regard either to key, time, accent,
phrase, or section, — so that their interpretation would necessarily have been a matter of
uncertainty to others, and probably was often so even to himself.
I have thus endeavoured to show, by a statement which I trust will not be deemed
wholly without interest, or irrelevant to the purpose of the present work, that though I
have been, during the whole course of my life, a zealous collector of Irish melodies, I have
been actuated in this pursuit by no other feelings than those of a deep sense of their beauty,
a strong conviction of their archaeological interest, and a consequent desire to aid in the
preservation of remains so honourable to the national character of my country, and so
inestimable as a pure source of happiness to all sympathetic minds to whom they might
become known. And though, when I had long despaired of finding any one qualified,
according to my ideas, to give to the public in a worthy manner the collection which I had
formed, I may have occasionally contemplated the possible production of such a work
myself, as a delightful and not over laborious occupation of my declining years, it is most
probable that, like my friend Bunting, if the stimulating pressure of friends had not been
applied to me, I should have gone on to the end, absorbed in the completion of works of a
different nature, and to which my studies had long been more particularly directed. Such
a stimulus was supplied on the formation, in Dublin, of the " Society for the Preservation
and Publication of the Melodies of Ireland;" and it was strengthened, not only by the honour
which that Society conferred on me in electing me their President, but still more by the
flattering proposal and expression of their desire to give precedence to my collection in the
publications of the Society.
INTRODUCTION.
xi
But though this proposal was entirely free from any conditions which I could for a
moment hesitate to accept; and though, moreover, I was sincerely anxious to promote the
objects of the Society by every means in my power; I confess that I was startled at a pro-
posal so unexpected on my part : and it was not till I had given the matter a very ample-
consideration that I could bring my mind to agree to it. For, on the one hand, 1 could
not but feel doubtful of my ability to accomplish, without a greater previous preparation,
a work of so much national importance, in such a manner as might not seriously low er
whatever little reputation I had acquired by the production of works of a different nature ;
and disappoint, moreover, the partial expectations of the Society and those friends that had
pressed me to the undertaking: and I also felt that if I did venture on such a work, with
the desire to accomplish it not unworthily, it would necessarily require for its production
the exclusive devotion of many years of a life now drawing towards its close ; and the con-
sequent abandonment of the completion of other works on which 1 had been long engaged,
as well as of the practice of that art which is so productive of happiness to its lovers, and so
suited to the peaceful habits of declining years. And lastly, as I cannot but confess, I could
not suppress a misgiving, that, let a work of this nature possess whatever amount of interest
or value it may, there no longer existed amongst my countrymen such sufficient amount of
a racy feeling of nationality, and cultivation of mind — qualities so honourable to the Scot-
tish character — as would secure for it the steady support necessary for its success, and which
the Society, as I thought, somewhat too confidently anticipated. In short, I could not but
fear that I might be vainly labouring to cultivate mental fruit which, however indigenous
to the soil, was yet of too refined and delicate a flavour to be relished, or appreciated, by a
people who had been, from adversities, long accustomed only to the use of food of a coarser
and more exciting nature. May this feeling prove an erroneous one ! On the other hand,
however, I could not but be sensible that, viewed in many ways, the object which the
Society had taken in hands was of great importance ; that, with an equal hope of suc-
cess, such an effort might probably never again be made ; and that it was a duly, at least
of every right-minded Irishman, who might have it in his power to contribute in any
way to its support, to allow, if possible, no cold calculations of a selfish prudence, or an
unmanly fear of critical censure, to withhold Mm from joining ardently in such an effort.
I considered, too, that if, as Moore, perhaps somewhat strongly, states, " We have too long
neglected the only talent for which our English neighbours ever deigned to allow us any
credit," our apparent want of appreciation of the value of that talent was, at least To some
extent, an evidence of the justice of such limited praise. I called to mind that, but tor the
accidentally directed researches of Edward Bunting — a man paternally of an English race —
and the sympathetic excitement to follow in his track which his example had given to a
few others, the memory of our music would have been but little more than as a departed
xii INTRODUCTION.
dream, never to be satisfactorily realized ; and that, though much had been done by those
persons, yet that Moore's statement still remained substantially true, namely, that " our
national music never had been properly collected;" or, in other words, that it had never
been collected truly and perfectly, as it might and should have been, and that it cannot be
so collected now. I could not but feel that what must have been, at no distant time, the
inevitable result of the changes in the character of the Irish race which had been long in
operation, and which had already almost entirely denationalized its higher classes, had been
suddenly effected, as by a lightning flash, by the calamities which, in the year 1846-7,
had struck down and well nigh annihilated the Irish remnant of the great Celtic family.
Of the old, who had still preserved as household gods the language, the songs, and
traditions of their race and their localities, but few survived. Of the middle-aged and
energetic whom death had yet spared, and who might for a time, to some extent, have
preserved such relics, but few remained that had the power to fly from the plague and
panic stricken land ; and of the young, who had come into existence, and become orphaned,
during those years of desolation, they, for the most part, were reared where no mother's
eyes could make them feel the mysteries of human affections — no mother's voice could
soothe their youthful sorrows, and implant within the memories of their hearts her songs
of tenderness and love, — and where no father's instructions could impart to them the tra-
ditions and characteristic peculiarities of feeling that would link them to their remotest
ancestors. The green pastoral plains, the fruitful valleys, as well as the wild hilLsides and
the dreary bogs, had equally ceased to be animate with human life. " The land of song"
was no longer tuneful ; or, if a human sound met the traveller's ear, it was only that of the
feeble and despairing wail for the dead. This awful, unwonted silence, which, during the
famine and subsequent years, almost everywhere prevailed, struck more fearfully upon
their imaginations, as many Irish gentlemen informed me, and gave them a deeper feeling
of the desolation with which the country had been visited, than any other circumstance
which had forced itself upon their attention ; and I confess that it was a consideration of
the circumstances of which this fact gave so striking an indication, that, more than any
other, overpowered all my objections, and influenced me in coming to a determination to
accept the proposal of the Irish-Music Society.
In this resolution, however, I was actuated no less by a desire to secure to the public,
by publication, the large store of melodies which I had already collected, than by the hope
of increasing that store, during the progress of the work, by a more exclusive devotion of
mind and time to this object than I had ever previously given to it. I felt assured that it
was still possible, by a zealous exertion, to gather from amongst the survivors of the old
Celtic race, innumerable melodies that would soon pass away for ever ; but that such exer-
tion should be immediate. For, though I had no fear that this first swarm from the parent
INTRODUCTION.
xiii
hive of the great Indo-Germanic race would perish in this their last western asylum ; of
that they would not again increase, and, as heretofore, continue to supply the empire with
their contribution of fiery bravery, lively sensibility, and genius in all the aesthetic arts, —
yet I felt that the new generations, unlinked as they must be with those of the past, and sub-
jected to influences and examples scarcely known to their fathers, will necessarily have lost
very many of those peculiar characteristics which so long had given them a marked indivi-
duality; and, more particularly, that among the changes sure to follow, the total extinction
of their ancient language would be, inevitably, accompanied by the loss of all that as yet
unsaved portion of their ancient music which had been identified with it.
To this task I accordingly applied myself zealously, and with all the means at my dis-
posal ; feeling that I could not render a better service to my country : and of the success
which followed my exertions some correct idea may be formed from the volume now pre-
sented to the reader ; in which it will be seen that of the airs which it contains, nearly a
moiety has been collected within the last two or three years. In truth, that success has
gone far beyond any expectations which I might have ventured to indulge ; for, aided, as I
am happy to confess I have been, not only by my personal friends, but by the voluntary
exertions of several young men of talents who have sympathized in my object, I have been
enabled, within these years, to obtain not only a great variety of settings of airs already
printed, or in my own collection, but to add to that collection more than four hundred
melodies previously unpublished, and unknown to me.
Having premised thus far in reference to the motives and feelings which influenced me
in undertaking a work of this nature, I feel it necessary to make a few remarks in reference
to the objects which I proposed to myself during the progress of its compilation, and which
1 have kept in view, as far as it was in my power to do so.
Independently, then, of the desire to collect and preserve the hitherto unpublished
melodies of Ireland, these objects may, in a general way, be stated as having a common
end in view, namely, to fix, as far as practicable, by evidences, the true forms of our melo-
dies, whether already published or not ; and to throw all available light upon their past
history. By a zealous attention to such points, Mr. Chappell, in his collection of national
English airs, has ably, as well as enthusiastically, asserted the claims of his country to the
possession of a national music ; and, with an equal zeal and ability, Mr. G. Farquhar Graham
has illustrated Scottish music in the valuable Introductory Dissertation and Notes which he
has supplied to Wood's work, "The Songs of Scotland." For the illustration of the national
music of Ireland, however, but little of this kind has been hitherto attempted, and that little,
I regret to say, is not always of much value or authority. Such as it is, however, it is wholly
comprised in the remarks upon a few of the times printed in Bunting's first publication,
and his remarks upon some fifty of those given in his third and last volume ; and even
d
»
xiv INTRODUCTION
these latter remarks, together with the statement of names and dates authenticative of the
airs comprised in that volume, were only made at my suggestion and on my earnest solici-
tation. But I confess that I found those remarks to be far inferior in copiousness, interest,
and value, to what I had hoped for from one who had far greater facilities for gathering
the varied knowledge necessary for the illustration of our music than can be obtained now ;
and whom I knew to have been possessed of all the oldest printed, as well as many MS.,
settings of a large number of our airs, together with an extensive collection of the Irish
songs sung to them, and other materials now difficult, if not impossible, to procure ; but of
which, strange to say, Mr. Bunting made scarcely any use. To the use of all printed autho-
rities, or such as could be tested by reference, Mr. Bunting, indeed, appears to have had a
rooted aversion ; and, in all cases, he preferred the statement of facts on his own unsup-
ported authority to every other. Nor would such authority have been without value if we
had every reason to believe it trustworthy. But what reliance can we place on the state-
ments of one who, in reference to that strange musical farrago — compounded no doubt of
Irish materials — called " the Irish Cry as sung in Ulster," given in his last volume, tells us
that it was procured in 1799 " from O'Neill, harper, and from the hired mourners or keeners
at Armagh ; and from a MS. above 100 years old" ? — or who gravely acquaints us that he
obtained the well-known tune called "Patrick's Day," in 1792, from "Patrick Quin, harper :"
as if he could not have gotten as accurate a set of it from any human being in Ireland that
could either play, sing, or whistle a tune ; and though he knew that the air had been
printed — and more correctly too — in Playford's " Dancing Master," more than a century
previous. Thus, in like manner, he refers us to dead harpers as his authorities for all those
tunes of Carolan, and many others, which he printed ; nearly all of which had been already
given in Neal's, and other publications of the early part of the last century.
The truth is indeed unquestionable, that not only has our music never as yet been pro-
perly studied and analyzed, or its history been carefully and conscientiously investigated ;
but that our melodies, generally, have never been collected in any other than a careless,
desultory, and often unskilful manner. For the most part caught up from the chanting of
some one singer, or, as more commonly was the case, from the playing of some one itine-
rant harper, fiddler, or piper, settings of them have been given to the world as the most
perfect that could be obtained, without a thought of the possibility of getting better versions ;
or of testing their accuracy by the acquisition, for the purpose of comparison, of settings
from other singers or performers, or from other localities ; and the result has often been
most prejudicial to the character of our music.
If indeed we were so simple and inconsiderate as to place any faith in the dogma of the
immutability of traditionally preserved melodies, so boldly put forward by Mr. Bunting in
the Preface to his last work, it would follow that all such labour of research, investigation,
INTRODUCTION.
xv
and analysis, was wholly unnecessary ; and as we are fairly authorized to conclude that he
took no such useless labour upon himself, it will, to a great extent, account for the imper-
fections which may be found in many of his settings of even our finest airs.
This strange dogma of Mr. Bunting's is thus stated: " The words of the popular songs
of every country vary according to the several provinces and districts in which they art-
sung; as, for example, to the popular air of A ileen-a-roon, we here find as many different
sets of words as there are counties in one of our provinces. But the case is totally different
with music. A strain of music, once impressed on the popular ear, never varies. It may
be made the vehicle of many different sets of words, but they are adapted to it, not it to
them, and it will no more alter its character on their account than a ship will change
the number of its masts on account of an alteration in the nature of its lading. For taste
in music is so universal, especially among country people, and in a pastoral age, and airs are
so easily, indeed in many instances, so intuitively acquired, that when a melody has once
been divulged in any district, a criterion is immediately established in almost ever}7 ear;
and this criterion being the more infallible in proportion as it requires less effort in judging,
we have thus, in all directions and at all times, a tribunal of the utmost accuracy and of
unequalled impartiality (for it is unconscious of the exercise of its own authority) governing
the musical traditions of the people, and preserving the native airs and melodies of every
country, in their integrity, from the earliest periods." — Ancient Music of Ireland — Preface,
pp. 1, 2.
The irrationality and untruthfulness of this dogma, as applied to national melody gene-
rally, has been well exposed by Mr. G. Farquhar Graham, in his "Introduction" to "'Wood's
Songs of Scotland f and, as applied to the melodies of Ireland, abundant proofs of its
unsoundness will be found in the present and succeeding volumes of this work. I shall
only, therefore, state here, as the result of my own experience as a collector of our melodies,
that I rarely, if ever, obtained two settings of an unpublished air that were strictly the
same ; though, in some instances, I have gotten as many as fifty notations of the one melody.
In many instances, indeed, I have found the differences between one version of an air and
another to have been so great, that it was only by a careful analysis of their structure,
aided perhaps by a knowledge of their history and the progress of their mutations, that they
could be recognised as being essentially the one air. And thus, from a neglect of, or inca-
pacity for, such analysis, Moore, in his Irish Melodies, has given as different airs Aiding an
Oighfear, or " The young man's dream," and the modern version of it known as M The groves
of Blarney," and " Last rose of summer ;" Sin sios agus suas Hum, or "Down beside me," and
the modern version known as "The banks of Banna;" Cailin deas donn, or "The pretty
brown-haired girl," and Shield's inaccurate setting of it, noted from the singing of Irish
sailors at Wapping. Nor has Bunting himself, from whom more accuracy might have been
xvi
i
INTRODUCTION.
expected, been able to avoid such oversights ; for, in his last volume, he has given us, as
different airs: 1. The well-known tune called Bean an fhir ruadh, or, " The red-haired man's
wife" — or as he calls it, " 0 Molly dear" — and a barbarized piper's version of it, which he
calls Cailin deas ruadh, or "The pretty red-haired girl;" the first of these settings, as he
states, having been obtained from Patrick Quin, harper, in 1800, and the second from
Thomas Broadwood, Esq. (of London), in 1815. 2. The very common air called "The
rambling boy," and a corrupted version of it, with a fictitious second part, which he calls
Do bi bean uasal, or "There was a young lady," — obtained, as he states, from R. Stanton, of
Westport, in 1802. And 3. The very popular old tune of Ta me mo chodhladh, or "I am
asleep," and a modified version of it, which he calls Maidin bog aoibhin, or " Soft mild
morning ;" both of which, he tells us, were noted from the playing of Hempson, the harper
of Magilligan, the first in 1792, and the second in 1796.
Harpers and other instrumentalists are indeed Bunting's most common authorities for
his tunes, whenever he gives any ; but I must say that, except in the case of tunes of a
purely instrumental character, I have found such authorities usually the least to be trusted ;
and that it was only from the chanting of vocalists, who combined words with the airs,
that settings could be made which would have any stamp of purity and authenticity. For
our vocal melodies, even when in the hands of those players whose instruments will permit
a true rendering of their peculiar tonalities and features of expression, assume a new and
unfixed character, varying with the caprices of each unskilled performer, who, unshackled
by any of the restraints imposed upon the singer by the rhythm and metre of the words
connected with those airs, thinks only of exhibiting, and gaining applause for, his own
powers of invention and execution, by the absurd indulgence of barbarous licenses and
conventionalities, destructive not only of their simpler and finer song qualities, but often
rendering even their essential features undeterminable with any degree of certainty.
It is, in fact, to this careless or mistaken usage of Mr. Bunting and other collectors of
our melodies, of noting them from rude musical interpreters, instead of resorting to the
native singers — their proper depositories — that we may ascribe the great inaccuracies —
often destructive of their beauty, and always of their true expression — which may be found
in the published settings of so many of our airs. For those airs are not, like so many
modern melodies, mere ad libitum arrangements of a pleasing succession of tones, unshackled
by a rigid obedience to metrical laws ; they are arrangements of tones, in a general way
expressive of the sentiments of the songs for which they were composed, but always strictly
coincident with, and subservient to, the laws of rhythm and metre which govern the con-
struction of those songs, and to which they consequently owe their peculiarities of struc-
ture. And hence it obviously follows that the entire body of our vocal melodies may be
easily divided into, and arranged under, as many classes as there are metrical forms of con-
INTRODUCTION.
xvii
struction in our native lyrics — but no further ; and that any melody that will not naturally
fall into some one or other of those classes must be either corrupt or altogether fictitious.
Thus, for example, if we take that class of airs in triple time which is the most peculiarly
Irish in its structure, namely, that to which I have applied the term " narrative," in the
numerous examples given in the present volume, a reference to the words sung to those
airs would at once have shown that the bar should be marked at the first crotchet, or dotted
quaver, after a start, or introduction, of half a measure, so that the accents throughout the
melody would fall on the emphatic words as well as notes ; whereas, by a neglect of such
reference, even Mr. Bunting, in his settings of such tunes, has very frequently marked the
bar a full crotchet, or two quavers sooner — thus falsifying the accents, and marring the
true expression of the melody, through its entirety ; and rendering it incapable of being
correctly sung to the original song, or to any other of similar structure that had been, or
could be, adapted to it. I should add, moreover, that this rhythmical concordance of the
notes of the melody with the words of the song must, to secure a correct notation, be not
only attended to in the general structure of the air, but even in the minutest details of its
measures. Thus, in Mr. Bunting's setting of the beautiful melody called Droighneann donn,
or " The brown thorn," given in his first collection, — and which is one of the class here
alluded to, — though the tune throughout is correctly barred, yet, from a neglect of such
attention, the rhythm is violated, in the third phrase of the second strain, or section, by the
substitution of a minim for a crotchet followed by two quavers ; and this rhythmical imper-
fection, trivial as it might be deemed — for the time is still perfect — had the effect of con-
straining the poet Moore, in his words to this melody, to make the corresponding phrase
in each stanza of his song defective of a metrical foot. As thus: —
" For on thy deck — though dark it be,
A female form— I see."
In offering these remarks, which have been necessarily somewhat critical, on the errors
of preceding collectors of our music — and which I confess I have made with great reluct-
ance as regards the labours of Mr. Bunting, whose zealous exertions for the preservation of
our national music should entitle his name to be for ever held in grateful remembrance 1 > \
his country — I must not allow it to be inferred that I consider myself qualified to give to
the public a work in which no such imperfections shall be found. Whatever may be the
value of the qualifications necessary for doing so which I possess, the means necessary to
insure such an end have been, to a great extent, wanting. Like my predecessors, I have
been, and am, but a desultory collector, dependent upon accident for the tunes which I
have picked up ; not always, as I would have desired, obtaining such acquisitions from the
best sources ; but sometimes from pipers, fiddlers, and such other corrupting and uncertain
e
INTRODUCTION.
mediums; sometimes from old MS., or printed music books; and often, at second-hand,
from voluntary contributors, who had themselves acquired them in a similar manner. And
though the airs thus acquired have but rarely borne the stamp of unsullied purity, they
have often retained such an approach to beauty as seemed to entitle them to regard, and as
would not permit me, willingly, to reject them as worthless.
But I may, perhaps without presumption, claim the merit of an ardent enthusiasm in
the prosecution of this undertaking ; and of a reasonable share of industry in endeavouring
to qualify myself to accomplish it with, at least, some amount of ability. I have availed
myself of every opportunity in my power to obtain the purest settings of the airs, by noting
them from the native singers, and more particularly from such of them as resided, or
had been reared, in the most purely Irish districts ; and I have sedulously endeavoured to
test their accuracy, and free them from the corruptions incidental to local and individual
recollections, by seeking for other settings from various localities and persons : and when-
ever, as has often happened, I found such different settings exhibit a want of agreement
which has made it difficult to decide upon the superior accuracy, and perhaps beauty, of
one over others, I have deemed it desirable to preserve such different versions. And as
the true rhythm of traditionally preserved airs can often be determined only by a reference
to the songs which had been sung to them, or from their strict analogy to airs whose
rhythmical structure had been thus determined, I have endeavoured, in all instances, to
collect such songs, or even fragments of them ; and though these songs or fragments are
not often in themselves valuable, and are even sometimes worthless, I have considered them
not unworthy of preservation as evidences of, at least, the general accuracy of the settings
of the airs, as well as being illustrative, to some extent, of their history ; and in all cases I
have truly stated the sources and localities from which both tunes and words have been
obtained. Finally, I have endeavoured carefully to analyze the peculiarities of rhythm and
structure found in the airs, as well as in the songs sung to them ; and I have thus, as I con-
ceive, been enabled to lay a solid foundation for a future general classification of our melo-
dies, which must be free from error, and be of great value in illustrating the origin and
progress of our music.
That I have been at all times successful in these efforts, or that the settings of the airs
now first published, as well as of those intended to follow them, are always the best that
could possibly be obtained, is more than I would venture to arrogate, or perhaps than
should be expected. My whole pretensions are limited to the accumulation of a greater
and more varied mass of materials for the formation of a comprehensive and standard pub-
lication of our national music than has previously existed ; including, as a necessary con-
tribution towards the accomplishment of such a desideratum, corrected or varied versions
of airs already printed, as well as settings of airs previously unnoticed.
INTRODUCTION. xix
The value of these efforts may, however, be fairly estimated from the volume now pre-
sentedto the public; for, should it meet support, and a few years of life be spared me, to
enable the Society to bring the work to completion, this volume will be found to be a fair
specimen of the materials of which the others shall consist. For though, by a selection of
the finest airs in my possession, it would have been easy to have made this volume one of
far higher interest and value, I have abstained from doing so; as the consequent deterio-
ration in the quality of the matter in the succeeding volumes would create a just cause of
complaint, and, indeed, I have been so studious in taking these tunes in such relative pro-
portions, as to merit and variety of character, as would afford an average measure of the
materials which remained, that I would fain hope, should any difference hereafter be found
between them, it will not be unfavourable to the character of the latter.
In like manner, I might have made this volume one of far higher musical pretensions,
and, probably, popular interest, by intrusting the harmonizations of the airs to professional
musicians of known ability, many of whom I am proud to rank amongst the number of my
friends. But I knew of none, at least within the latter circle, who had devoted any parti-
cular study to the peculiarities of structure and tonalities wThich so often distinguish our
melodies from those of modern times; and I consequently feared that harmonies of a
learned and elaborate nature, constructed with a view to the exhibition of scientific know-
ledge, as well as the gratification of conventional tastes, might often appear to me unstated
to the simple character and peculiar expression of the airs; and require me either to
adopt what I might not approve ; or, by the exercise of a veto, which would have the
appearance of assumption, involve me in collisions which I should desire to avoid. From
such feeling only, and not from any vain desire to exhibit musical knowledge which I am
conscious I do not possess, I determined to arrange the melodies as I best could, to satisfy
my own musical perceptions of propriety; and this determination I should have carried
out through the present volume, and its successors, but that I soon found that my beloved
and devoted eldest daughter, possessing a sympathizing musical feeling, and actuated by
an ardent desire to lighten my labours by every means in her power, soon qualified herself
by study and practice, not merely to give me an occasional assistance, but, as I may say.
to take upon herself — subject of course to my approbation — the arrangements of the far
greater portion of the airs which the volume contains. In order, however, to secure our
arrangements from grammatical errors, or other glaring defects, I have, in most instances,
submitted them to the correction of my friend Dr. Smith, Professor of Music in the Uni-
versity of Dublin ; and he has given me the aid of his deep scientific musical knowledge,
with a zeal and warmth which entitle him to my most grateful acknowledgments.
Yet — as in matters of taste the judgment is usually more influenced by accidental asso-
ciations, than by the Eesthetic sense of the intrinsic beauty which may be inherent in the
>
xx INTRODUCTION.
objects subjected to it — I am far from indulging the expectation that the general estimate
formed of the worth of the airs in the present volume will be at all as high as my own.
The young Subaltern Avill, most probably, consider the last new galop or polka, to which —
intoxicated with the charms of his fair partner — he has skipped or cantered round the ball-
room, superior in beauty to the finest melodies of Rossini or Mozart. The thoughtless,
impulsive Irishman, of a lower social grade, will prefer the airs of "Patrick's day," or
" Garryowen," to all the lively melodies of his country. The popular public singer has it
in his power to make an air " the tune of the day," which, however high its merits, might
have remained unknown but for his patronage. The people of every different race and
country will not be persuaded that there is any national music in the Avorld equal to their
own ; for it is expressive of their own musical sensations, and is associated with the songs
and recollections of their youth. And thus the finest of our Irish melodies have obtained
their just appreciation far less from any immediate estimate of their merits, than from
their accidental union with the lyrics of Moore and others, which had taken a hold on
the popular mind.
The airs presented to the public in this work have no such accidental associations, and
no such interpreters of their meanings, to recommend them to general favour : and hence,
they will have not only to encounter the prejudices of those who believe that all the Irish
melodies worthy of preservation have been already collected, — an opinion fostered in the
public mind by Moore and Bunting, — but the still greater danger of disappointing the
expectations of those who believe that airs presented to their ears for the first time, and
without words, should at once take possession of their feelings, and give as much delight as
those which had been embalmed there by various extrinsic associations.
But, though it is only natural to conclude that, as the best melodies of every country
would, at least generally, be the most popular, and, therefore, the first to present them-
selves to notice, and be appropriated by early collectors, those which remained to reward
the industry of subsequent collectors — gleaners on an already reaped field — would be
of an inferior quality; yet I cannot but indulge the belief that the airs in this work,
will, on the whole, be found to possess as great an amount of variety and excellence
as belong to those which have preceded it ; and that, should the support necessary to its
completion be awarded to it, it will afford a valuable and enduring contribution to the
store of simple pleasures necessary to minds of a refined and sensitive nature, and greatly
add to the respect which Ireland has already obtained from the world from the beauty of
her national music.
GEORGE PETRIE.
67, Rathmines Road,
1st May, 1855.
INDEX
TO
THE AIRS IN THIS VOLUME,
ALPHABETICALLY ARRANGED.
XAME IN ENGLISH. SAME IN IRISH. WHERE, OR FROM WHOM PROCURED.
Page.
Advice, The, Miss Jane Ross, Newtownlimavady (Co. Derry), . 78
All Alive, Ldn béoóa, MS. music-book of the middle of the last century, . 41
Allan's Return, A Dublin street ballad, early in the present century, 80
Along the Mourne Shore, . . . Coir cuam lílugOopna, .... The late Mr. Joseph Hughes (Co. Cavan), ... 42
As a Sailor and a Soldier were
walking one day,
I Mr. Patrick Joyce (Co. Limerick), 192
As I walked out one morning, I j ^ A ^ Enniscorth (Wexford), 149
heard a dismal cry, . . . . j * v '
At the little yellow road, . . . Q5 an m-b6icn1n bui&e, . . . Teige Mac Mahon, a Clare ballad-singer, 1854, . . ~ll
Anonymous Airs.
Ballad Tune, A Dublin street ballad singer, about 40 years ago, . 32
Song, . . . Miss Jane Ross, Newtownlimavady (Co. Derry), . 57
Sligo Air, Biddy Monaghan (Sligo), 1837, 61
Air of Curran's "Monks of ) __. „ _ „ r(f
, „ „ } W llham Henry Curran, Esq., 109
the Screw," J J 1
Ballad Tune, A Dublin street singer, above 40 years ago, . . .112
Ballad Tune, A Dublin ballad singer, early in the present century, 123
A slow Tune, Noted early in the present century, 130
Song, Mr. James Fogarty, of Tibroghney (Co. Kilkenny), 157
Song, MS. book of James Hardiman, Esq. (Gulway), . . 174
Ballad Tune, A Dublin ballad singer, early in the present century. 189
Song, Mr. James Fogarty, of Tibroghney (Co. Kilkenny), 191
Military air (or Chorus), Mr. James Fogarty. of Tibroghney (Co. Kilkenny), 66
Military Song, Mr. James Fogarty, of Tibroghney (Co. Kilkenny ), 7"
A Quick March, Mr. Robert A. Fitzgerald, of Enniscorthy (Wexford), 153
A Lamentation, .... Caoine, Frank Keane, Co. Clare (now of Dublin), .... 187
A Hop Jig, MS. Collection of Dance-tunes, about 1750, . . . 88
A Single Jig, Mr. James Fogarty. of Tibroghney (Co. Kilkenny). 71
A Double Jig, Patrick Hurst, a fiddler, from the Co. Leitrim. 1852. 127
A Munster Double Jig, Frank Keane, Co. Clare (now of Dublin), 1854, . .163
. ,_ _. , _ e Mr. Patrick Jovce, from Michael Dineen, of Cool-
A Munster Single Jig, I . T. ... 10-0 ....
b °' \ free (Co. Limerick). 18o2, 16«
A Planxty, Mrs. J. S. Close (Co. Galway) 129
[See also Plough Tunes.]
Ballypatrick, baile póxpaic Mr. James Fogarty, Tibroghney. (Co. Kilkenny). . 147
Bellew's March (Sir Patrick), MS. Music-book, about 1750, 96
/
xxii INDEX TO THE AIRS IN THIS VOLUME.
NAME IN ENGLISH. NAME IN IRISH. WHERE, OR FROM WHOM PROCURED.
Page.
Beside the White Rock, ... dp caob na cappaise bdine, 143
(Bunting's setting), 140
Blackbird (The) and the Thrush, (In Ion bub 'pan pmólac, • . • Anne Buckley, at the Claddagh (Galway), 1840, . 148
Blackwater Foot, 87
Blackthorn (The) Cane with the )
Tll J On ctína bpolgeann éille, . . . Biddy Monaghan (Sligo), 1837, 37
Black (The) Slender Boy, ... Qn buacaill caol-bub, .... The late Thomas Davis (Munster setting), ... 22
(Second setting), The late Thomas Davis (Munster setting), ... 22
(Third setting), Paddy Coneely, the piper (Galway), 23
Blow the candle out, Betty Skillin (noted above half a century ago by — ), 63
By the side of the White Eock ) _ . _ , _, _ , _ . , _ _ .. 1BO
i u r 'ri +ii " ^ f Op caob na cappaise btíme, . . The late Sir. Joseph Hughes (Co. Cavan), . . . Ida
(Another setting), The late Wm. Forde, of Cork, . 139
(Another setting), . . . (On curiiam leac an oibce), . . Teige Mac Mahon, a Clare ballad-singer, 1854, . 141
Cailin ban, The (The Fair Girl), . On cailin ban, Paddy Coneely, the piper (Galway), 1839, ... 45
Catholic Boy, The The Right Hon. David R. Pigot (Chief Baron), . . 144
out together, ] céile, j Clare, 1854, 162
Coola Shore (" When I rise in the -v , _,, , T . „ , ,n r\ \ * i
I ( The late Mr. Joseph Hughes (Co. Cavan), taken
morning with my heart full of V -j
Cock (A) and a Hen that went ) Ceapc asup coileac a b'imcig le ) Teige Mac Mahon, a ballad-singer from the Co.
Clare, 1854,
he late Mr. Joseph Hughes (Co. Cavan), taken
down about forty years ago, 119
woe, ) )
Cormac Spaineach (otherwise caU- 1 Copmac Spáineac (no an Dpuma- * m James Fogartyi of Tibroghney (Co. Kilkenny), . 35
ed The Drummer), . . . . j t>óip), /
Cunning Young Man, The, . . On cleapaíóe pip Ó15, .... Mrs. Aspull, Dalkey, 1815, 6
David Foy (or Remember the )
Pease Straw) } ^ Dublin bajlad-singer, about 40 years ago, . . .102
Dear to me the big Jug, and it )
fulI j TP.0 gpd&pa an Jug móp íp é Itín, Paddy Coneely, the piper (Galway), 1839, . . .126
Ding dong didilium (The Smith's 1 Dins bons bibilium, buail peo, ) Mr. Patrick Joyce, from Mary Hackett, of Ardpa-
Song), j péib peo, J trick (Co. Limerick), 1853, 171
Donnel O'Graedh, Domnall o 5pae6, . ... MS. book of James Hardiman, Esq. (Galway), . . 152
Druiminn Donn, The, .... (In bpuimpionn bonn bilip, . . Noted in the Co. Derry, 1837, 115
Fingal, The Return from, ... On Pilleab Ó pine gall, 31
Forlorn Virgin, The, Anne Buckley, in the Claddagh (Galway), 1839, . 82
, ,™ % , . f Rev. M. Walsh, P.P., Sneem (Co. Kerry), and
Girl (The) of the great house, . Cailin a age rhoip { m Patrick Joy^ (Co Limerick), 51
GobbyO! The MS. book of Dance Tunes, about 1750, 106
Good night, and joy be with you, Paddy Coneely, the piper (Galway), 1837, ... 80
Groves of Blackpool, The, ■ 110
He's gone, he's gone, .... D'imcig pé 'sup b'imcig pé, . . Taken down at Dungiven (Co. Derry), 1837, . . , 48
Hunt, The (or the Galtee Hunt), Mr. Patrick Joyce (Co. Limerick), 92
I once loved a Boy, Miss Holden (the late Mrs. Joseph Hughes), ... 79
I will drink no more on those ■» Ni olpa mé ní'p mo ap na bóiépe \ Eugene Curry, Esq. (learned by his father about
roads of Sligo, J peo SI1515, i 1760)— Co. Clare, 8
I wish the French would take) „ „ u \ iq?
t^em | Betty Skillin (noted above half a century ago by — ), 137
I wish the Shepherd's Pet were 1 dp cpuag san peaca an rhaoip ) Teige Mac Mahon, a ballad-singer from the Co.
mine, j 05am, ) Clare, 1853, 43
I would put my own child to 1 Do óuippmn-pi pém mo leanab a \ Mr. Patrick Joyce, from Mrs. Cudmore, Ardpatrick
sleep, j coólaó, J (Co. Limerick), MS
I would rather have a Maiden 1 ' , , r • 1 T /n t • :-w> ^9
} b'peapp liompa amnip gan guna, Mr. Patrick Joyce (Co. Limerick;, o_
without a gown, j
„_ , ,, , .„ ( Da s-capcatb bean canapaioe ) Teige Mac Mahon, a ballad-singer from the Co.
If I should meet a tanner s wife, . \ r ~ ,OKi ifii
' i liompa, 1 Clare, 1854, ibL
INDEX TO THE AIRS IN THIS VOLUME.
xxiii
NAME IX ENGLISH. NAME IN IRISH. WHERE, OR FROM WHOM PROCURED.
If I should go to a clown, . . . Od D-céiÓin 50 cóbaó, .... Mr. Robert A.Fitzgerald, Enniscortby (Co. Wexford) 104
(Another setting), 105
I'll be a good boy, and do so no) f The late Mr. Joseph Hughes (Co. Cavan), taken
more, J \ down about forty years ago, 64
1*11 make my love a breast of] DéanpaO Dam' gpd& geal, uóc ) _ __„ , ,
glass, i p5aédin 5lan, J Be"y Shlha (n°ted ab°TC centur>' aK° b>' ~> 88
Irish Hautboy, The, 13«
It was an old Beggarman, weary ) f "William Allingham, Esq., of New Ross (noted by
and wet, J \ him in Co. Donegal), 117
Jenny (0), you have borne away ) _ . „ , . , . _ , . _
the palm J S,néa0 Cu5 có an clú leac> • Taken down in Banagher (Co. Derry), 1836, ... 33
Johnny (0), dearest Johnny, Taken down in the Co. Derry, 1837, 134
King of the Rath, the (or Ree Raw), "Rig an RáéG, Mr. James Fogarty, of Tibroghney (Co. Kilkenny), 5
Kitty Magee, MS. book of Dance Tunes, about 1750, .... 185
LadyAthenry,PlanxtybyCarolan, . . Burke Thumoth's collection of Carolan, 1720, . . 158
LadyWrixon,Planxtyby Carolan, An old collection of Carolan, about 1721, . ... 39
Lament of Richard Cantillon, Mary Madden, a blind ballad-singer (Limerick, 1854), 182
Lament (The) for Gerald (or Black "I _ ,,. „
,\ f Dr. O'Sulkvan (Co. Kerry), about 1815, .... 91
Cloaks to cover Bobby), . . 1 v 1
Last Saturday night as I lay in ) T _ ,
."- ' f Mr. James M. O Redly (Co. Carlow) 101
my bed, > '
Let us be drinking, drinking, ) , , Í Teige Mac Mahon, a ballad -singer from the Co.
f T DimiD G5 01, 05 01, 05 ol, . . <
drinking, J I Clare, 18o4, 131
Loch Allen, Loc aillinne, From a fiddler in the Co. Leitrim, 58
Lullabies.
An ancient Lullaby, . . . "Seohuléo," Mary Madden, a blind ballad-singer (Limerick. 1854), 73
An ancient Lullaby, Miss Jane Ross, N.-T.-Limavady (Co. Derry), . . 118
(And see " I'd put my own
child to sleep.")
Lura, lura, no da lura (or Maileo 1 Lúpa, lúpa, no Da lupa (no TT)ai- ) Eugene Curry, Esq., and Teige Mac Mahon, (Co.
lero, is imbo nero), .... J leó lépo ip ímbó népo), . . . J Clare), 1853, 84
Melancholy Martin, TTldpcan Dúbaó, Taken down in Banagher (Co. Derry), 1837, . . . 19
Molly Hewson, Betty Skillin (noted above half a century ago by — ), 40
My Love is upon the river, . . Ca mo gpdo pa ap an abamn, . Mr. James Fogarty, of Tibroghney (Co. Kilkenny), 38
My Love will ne'er forsake me, . Ni cpeispiDmogptíÓ soDeóiOmé, Mr. P. J. O'Reilly, Westport (Co. Mayo), ... 18
My Lover has gone — my heart is -> O'imcig mo spdo— 'ctí mo cpoi&e "1 _ _ .„ ,.T ^ ,n ■»» %
' V f Mr. P. J. O Reilly, Westport (Co. Mavo), ... 44
sore, I cemn, J ■1
My own young dear, TTlo múipnín 65, Taken down in the Co. Derry, 186
Nancy (0), Nancy, don't you re- 1 ,
member Í Taken down from singing, about I8O0, Ill
Nancy, the pride of the East (or \
" For Erin I would not tell who I (dp epinn ni 'neópainn cé hf), . Mr. James Fogarty, of Tibroghney (Co. Kilkenny). 99
she is"), )
Never despise an old friend, Taken down in the Co. Derry, 177
„..,—,.,. m Í William Henry Curran, Esq., and Mr. Patrick
Nobleman s W edding, rhe, i ,„ ". .
&* ' I Joyce (Co. Limenck), 1<9
(Another setting), Miss Petrie, 179
(Another setting), Mary Madden, a blind ballad-singer (Limerick, 1854), 179
„ _ - . , . í MS. book of Irish tunes, written bv Mr. Patrick
Nora of the amber hair n6Va an Mil 6mpa, { 0^ Co. Kilkenny, in 1785 Bfl
(Another setting), Mr. James Fogarty, of Tibroghney (Co. Kilkenny), 90
Och, ochone, it is sickly I am (or \ Uc uó ón, ap bpeóice mipi (no ) „ ,„ n, . ,_,
tt 11 * n. nr • \ t . > Eugene Currv, Esq. (Co. Claret loo
Farewell to the Maige), . . . j v\án coip maige), . . . . / & " 1 v
Oh, rouse yourself, it's cold you've ■» Í Mary Madden, a blind ballad-singer, of Limerick,
got, } I 1854, 133
xxiv INDEX TO THE AIRS IN THIS VOLUME.
NAME IN ENGLISH. NAME IN IRISH. WHERE, OR FROM WHOM PROCURED.
Page.
.... . Í Mr. Patrick Joyce (from Joseph Martin, Ardpatrick,
Oh, thou of the beautiful hair, . d óúl tílamn bear, ...... J Cq Limerick)) 1854> 156
Oro, thou fair loved one, . . . Op6 a cumain 51 1, Teige Mac Malum, a Clare ballad-singer, 1854, . . 124
Oro mór, O Moirin ! . . . . Ópó rhop a móipln, O'Neill's MS. (Co. Kilkenny), 1787, 121
Old woman lamenting her purse, the, Mr. James Fogarty, of Tibroghney (Co. Kilkenny) 106
One Sunday after Mass, Noted down above forty years ago, 113
Pearl of the Flowing Tresses, The, péapla an óúil cpaobai§, . . . Mr. Patrick Joyce (Co. Limerick), 184
Pearl of the White Breast, The, péapla an bpollaig barn, . . . Eugene Curry, Esq. (Co. Clare), 10
Pipe (The) on the Hob, Mr. Patrick Joyce (Co. Limerick), 114
Planxties.
, „ „ , _ ■ „ Í MS. book of Irish airs by Mr. John Shannon, of Lis-
Planxty by Carolan, . . . piancpcaib, pe 6 Ceapballain, ) A , _ •».,,,,..«.
J / I towel (Co.Kerry),[settmgofRoche,aRerryMdler], 12
PlanxtyO'Flinn (by Carolan), An old collection of Carolan, about 1721, . . . . 150
[and see Lady Athenry, &c]
Plough Tunes.
" Hóbó-bobobo-bó," . . • (bpót> ip buail íp ciomdin), . . Teige Mac Mahon, a Clare ballad-singer, 1854, . 30
A Ploughman's Whistle, . . peab an oipim, Taken down in the King's County, 28
A Ploughman's Whistle, . . peab an oipirii, Mr. Patrick Fogarty, Tibroghney (Co. Kilkenny), . 29
A Ploughman's Whistle, . . peab an oipuh, Thomas H. Bridgford, Esq., R. H. A., . . . . 132
Pretty Sally, A Dublin street ballad-singer, above 40 years ago, . 178
Priest ("The) with the Collar, . . Sasapc an bonab, MS. Music-book, about 1750, 190
Red-haired Girl, The, .... On cailfn puab, Noted in Dalkey, 1815, 3
(Cork setting of the same air), 4
Rocky Road, The, Mrs. J. S. Close (Co. Galway), 175
Rose,The fair-skinned, dark-haired, *Joip seal bub, Mr. James Fogarty, Tibroghney (Co. Kilkenny), . 95
Sally Whelan (or Phelan), . . . Sabb nf paeldin, Paddy Coneely, the piper (Co. Galway), 1839, . . 122
Scolding Wife, The, O'Neill's MSS., 1787, 188
Scorching is this Love, Rev. M. Walsh, P. P., Sneem (Co. Kerry), ... 69
Sheela,mylove,say will you be mine, A Dublin street ballad-singer, above 40 years ago, . 135
Silken Article, The dn ball pióbarhail, Biddy Monaghan, Sligo, 1837, . 7
Sit here, O Muirnin, sit near me, SU15 annpo a TTluipnin lairii liom, Teige Mac Mahon, a Clare ballad-singer, 1854, . . 56
Spinning-wheel Tune, .... " Sin binn bubbapo," .... Anne Buckley, the Claddagh (Galway), 1839, . . 87
Splashing of the Churn, The . . Jj^'S^ a uiabip, Mr- James Fogarty, Tibroghney (Co. Kilkenny), . 81
Spring into the Drink, .... ppeab annpa n-6l, Mr. Patrick J. O'Reilly, Westport (Co. Mayo) . .128
Strawberry Blossom, The, ... 133
Tatter the Road, MS. Music- book, about 1750, 65
The hour I prove false, A Dublin ballad-singer, 40 years ago, ... . . . 181
There was a Lady all skin and bone, A Dublin ballad-singer, 40 years ago, 166
This time twelve months I married, bliabam 'pa caca po 'póp mé, . Teige Mac Mahon, a Clare ballad-singer, 1854, . . 159
"Pis easily known that you never) b'puipip cú aicne na paca cu ■» .
t, ? „ , V Aoted from a street singer m Dublin, about 1825, . 72
saw Rosy, .J TCoipi 'piam, J 0
The Token, The late Mrs. Joseph Hughes (Miss Holden), . . 182
Ulster, The Hags of,. . . . Cailleaca cúigib HlaÓ, . . . . Paddy Coneely, the piper (Co. Galway), 1839, . .123
When she answered me her voice ) c The late Mr. Joseph Hughes (Co. Cavan), about
was low,
Where have you been, mv little 1
• j Cd pabdip anoip a cailin bis ? . Mr. Patrick Joyce (Co. Limerick), 67
Wi nter it is past, The (or The ) ....
Curragh of Kildare) / Betty Skillin (noted above half a century ago by — ), 168
Woman (O) of the house, is not) _ . ,_ _, , , „ _ .
, . . ( O bean an age, naó puaipe epin, Teige Mac Mahon, a Clare ballad-singer, 1854, . . 55
(Another setting), Noted by the late William Forde, of Cork, 1846, . 55
Young Lady, The,
Gn boan 65 uapal,
Mr. Patrick Joyce (Co. Limerick),
154
2iN C2i)gH RU214). Cjje M-Jnnrrir (0irl
The name of this beautiful air will be familiar to all the readers of Gerald Griffin's deeply
interesting- tale of "The Collegians". They will remember how in the twenty-third
chapter of that work, the author, with admirable fidelity to nature, has depicted Lowry
Looby, the low comic Irishman of the story, as amusing- himself — while waiting- for
admission to the cottage of the unfortunate Eily — by singing in a low voice, outside the
window, a few verses of the odd ballad now united to this melody, — the oddities being
made more laughable by giving the words occasionally, not according to their true ortho-
graphy, but so as to convey the peculiar pronunciation given to them by the singer.
The words of u The Colleen Rue" are, in truth, a fair example of a class of lyrics not,
probably, to be found in any country but Ireland. They are the rude attempts of a
people not wholly illiterate, to express their thoughts in a language with which they had
but an imperfect and recently-acquired acquaintance ; or to translate into it the effusions
which had previously given them pleasure, as the exponents of airs they loved, and would
not willingly cease to sing. Viewed, therefore, merely as curiosities, — great "curiosities
of literature," — they are not unworthy of notice, or perhaps, in some instances, of preser-
vation. But they possess other features of interest not less remarkable ; they illustrate,
in no small degree, the history of the peasant mind of Ireland during the last two
centuries, — in times of peace breathing of love, or sorrow, or conviviality, — in times of
war or trouble, of secret treason and longings for revenge. Thus, during the war of the
Revolution, and as long after it as hope for the fallen dynasty survived, the sentimental
or love songs of the seventeenth century, and of earlier ages, were generally thrown aside
to give place to jacobite songs, which expressed the newly-engendered thoughts and wishes
of the people : and although, in some instances, and chiefly by the women, the former
were preserved in wild and secluded spots, those earlier songs have, in a great measure,
been irrecoverably lost. But though the old songs thus perished, the tunes still remained ;
and during that comparative lull of the popular feelings which, for a considerable portion
of the last century, was only disturbed by agrarian conspiracies and their sad consequences,
the jacobite songs were in their turn discarded, and the old melodies of the country Were
again applied to their original purpose, as a help to the expression of the better feelings
of the human mind. The sentimental airs had new words adapted to them, breathing 0m
successful or unhappy results of affection, — the more sorrowful ones gave vent to lamenta-
tions for the unfortunate Defender, Whiteboy, or Leveller, — and the livelier airs, and
spirit-stirring marches of the old clans, were generally converted to the uses of the damv :
and it is to the songs written during this period, that we owe the preservation of so vast I
2 ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
mass of our national melody. It is quite true that these songs rarely, if ever, had any
pretensions to literary merit, and were, moreover, too often disfigured by dashes of licen-
tiousness,— the too common and disgraceful characteristic of the times, and which are
never found in the earlier lyrics of the country. Still, however, mere doggerel as they
were, they led to results which song-s of a higher order -could never have accomplished ;
because they would have been unintelligible to the understandings, and foreign to the
tastes, of a then uneducated people. Whether written in Irish, for the counties in which
the native language still generally prevailed, or m English, for the counties where that
language was becoming general, or, as often happened, in a compound of the two tongues,
where both were still spoken, such songs had, to Irish ears, the important merit of a
happy adaptation of words that would run concurrently with the notes and rhythm of the
airs for which they were intended ; and were, happily, thus the means of preserving the
tunes in all their integrity. As an example of this rhythmical adaptation, I am tempted
to give a stanza or two — for more than a specimen would scarcely be tolerated — of this
characteristic ballad of the last century.
As I roved out on a summer's morning,
A speculating most curiously,
To my surprise I soon espied,
A charming fair one approaching me.
I stood a while in deep meditation,
Contemplating what I should do,
'Till at length, recruiting all my sensations,
I thus accosted fair Colleen Rue.
This, it must be confessed, is but sad doggerel, but in the following stanza will be more
distinctly seen that attempt to transfer to the English language the constantly recurring
assonantal or vowel rhymes of the original Irish songs ; and also of the pedantic classical
allusions, in which this class of Anglo-Irish ballads so ludicrously abound, and of which
so good an imitation has been given by the late Mr. Milliken of Cork, in the popular song
of "The Groves of Blarney."
Kind sir, be easy, and do not tease me,
With your false praises most jestingly,
Your dissimulation of invocation
Are vaunting praises seducing me.
I'm not Aurora or beauteous Flora,
But a rural female to all men's view,
That's here condoling my situation,
My appellation is the Colleen Rue.
The circumstances under which I obtained the air of this characteristic Irish love-song
had a curious accordance with the sentiment of the song, which may not be unworthy of
notice. While residing in the village of Dalkey, during the summer of 1815, 1 was one
evening surprised by hearing, from a small neig-hbouring tavern, a strain of melody which
appeared to me to be unmistakeably Irish, — not, however, sung, as I had always heard
such airs, by a single voice, but by several voices united, so as to produce a very pleasing
and not incorrect stream of harmony. So unusual an occurrence naturally excited in my
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
3
mind a strong desire to ascertain the name of a melody not previously known to me, and
how it came to he thus sung- in parts ; and having felt assured that I had accuratelv
committed the air to memory, I went into the house to question the hostess — the well
known and worthy Mrs. Shearman — on these points, and also as to what she knew of her
musical guests. Her reply was to the effect that the singers consisted of two respectable
country girls from the south, and their sweethearts, two Englishmen, corporals in i
regiment then quartered in Dublin, — to whom they were shortly to be married. As,
however, she could not give me the more essential information which I desired, I gladly
availed myself of her offer to introduce me to the singers, — from whom I learned that the
air, which was sung by the girls, was truly Irish, and called "The Colleen Rue;" and
that the harmony of tenor and bass combined with it, was the result of musical instruction
which the Englishmen had obtained, as singers in the choir of their parish church. I
should add that this was the only occasion on Avhich I have ever heard this beautiful and
once popular melody.
— Pend. 9 inches.
E=3
2=5
Andante con moto. mf
»
4 ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
In connexion with the preceding melody and words, it should, perhaps, be observed that,
as amongst the Irish, in many instances, innumerable songs have been adapted to a favor-
ite tune, so it often happens that a ballad which had become popular, is united to an air
different from that for which it was written. In illustration of this usage I have selected
the following- melody, which is more commonly known in the county of Cork as "The Colleen
Rue," — being the tune sung in that county to the ballad so called ; though to adapt it to
the latter, the air must be sung twice to each stanza.
• = Pend. 9 inches.
> -9-±
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Andante con moto.
-i — ^
e 0 - - e 0 " 0 J 0 ---- M jzz _Z~
K)5 2iM H21Ú21. €jn> ling nf % Until, nr Ere Entn.
This march-tune — together with many other airs of great beauty which will be given in
the course of this work— was sent to me by Mr. James Fogarty, a farmer of more than
ordinary cultivation of mind, who, previously to the spring of 1852, had resided in the
parish of Tibroughney, county of Kilkenny, but, from the depression of the times, was
then compelled to emigrate to America. According to his statement, this tune, which was
peculiar to his own locality, was believed to be of the greatest antiquity ; and was a vocal
war and festive march, which the people of Tibroughney had been accustomed to sing on
their way to the May festivals which — so late as the commencement of the last century —
were celebrated with great pomp at the spring fair of Fiddown. He also states that, as
sung at the period above alluded to, after each performance of the air in marching
measure, the movement was suddenly quickened to that of a lively jig, or battle-tune,
called High an Hatha, or u King of the Rath"; but which, corrupted to the name Bee
Raw, has acquired the meaning* of uproar, confusion, or boisterous merriment. This
etymology of a popular phrase now received into the English language, at least in
Ireland, is certainly curious, and seems likely to be well founded ; for I find the term
similarly applied to other ancient Irish marches of the same antique structure and cha-
racter ; and, if correct, it would refer such tunes to that remote time when the clans were
still subject to the rule of their chief, or king of the rath. Further, as this is the first
example which I have selected of the hitherto unpublished military tunes of the Irish now
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
5
in my possession, I deem it proper to state that all such airs, amongst the Irish, were of
a lively or quick-step character, — the slow march of England and other nations being
unknown to, or at least unused by, them ; and that all such strains are, of course, in com-
mon time, or that compound form of it consisting of two triplets, and known as six-eight
measure. I should further state that these ancient tunes appear to me to be still very
extensively preserved in Ireland as jig* tunes, of which — when not, as they often are, in
triple time — they may be regarded as the parents ; if, indeed, as is most probable, these
marches were not originally applied to both purposes.
r*= Pend. 12 inch
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ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
m 01621521)136 fjb ó)3. ${u (toning f rang %m.
This beautiful and highly characteristic melody was taken down, in 1815, from the sing-
ing* of a fisherman's wife named Archbold, or Aspull, as the name was locally pronounced,
in the then strikingly romantic village of Dalkey, near Dublin. The air was sung with
a touching sweetness, for the purpose of soothing the irritability of a sick child ; and, as
the singer subsequently informed me, it was from the singing of her mother, under similar
circumstances for herself, that she had learnt it in her own childhood. The words which
she sang to it were English, and of the ordinary ballad kind ; but the melody belongs to
a class, peculiar in character and structure, which, as I have shown in the Dissertation
prefixed to this work, there is every reason to believe to be of a very early antiquity.
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
7
SIN B2UX S10toSm)SlJl. Cjje f\M MtU.
A SET of this tune, given as a jig-, was first published in 1806, by my friend the late
Francis Holden, Mus. Doc., in a valuable collection of Irish melodies to which I was a
large contributor, this ah* being" one of the number. It was given to me in early youth b}'
a lamented friend, the late Edward Fisher of Merginstown, in the county of Wicklow, by
whom it had been taken down from the playing of a fiddler in that county. It is pro-
bable, however, that this air, like many other of our jig tunes in triple time, was originallv
a vocal one, as the present set was noted down as a song tune united to Irish words of
a playful character, and the melody thus sung was extremely pleasing. This version of
it was set while on a visit in 1837, at Rathcarrick House, the seat of my friend R. C.
Walker, Esq., Q.C., from the singing of a woman named Biddy Monahan, who had been
reared in that gentleman's family, and was, from her love for music, a rare depository of
the melodies which had been current in her youth in the romantic peninsula of Cuil Iorra.
I regret to add that I have forgotten the Irish name by which the melody was known in
that district.
MJ OUF21 2t)& Mj'S St)0 21K M21 BÓjtR6 S60 SIJ3J5— 3 ffiill U MXt U tjjDS* DÍ lligr.
For this beautiful and, as it appears to me, very ancient melody, I am indebted to mj
friend Mr. Eugene Curry, on whose memory it was fixed in early youth from the singing
of his father : and to the latter it had become familiar so far back as about the year 1760,
together with words which were then considered ancient, and which the old man treasured
in his memory until his death, in the year 1825, at the age of eighty-one. Of tkese
words, however, Mr. Curry unfortunately can only remember a small portion ; but this
is valuable as indicating the Connaught county to which the melody — though preserved
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
in Clare — most probably belongs, as will be seen from the first line of the following
stanza, which is the only perfect one that Mr. Curry remembers: —
M| ólfA tt)§ v'\'x f?ó <vfi da bóiéjte reo SI1315,
&3vr cójpA rtjé njo reólcA pA bójio t)<v cA|lle 3lA]fe ;
Olf a n)é njo Óóiqt) &]a &ori)T)Ai5 -(f bjAb Aft trifle,
2J)Ajt rv]i ir 3° b-fíA5AiDD-ri f&isIo orr/ txófftíT) Mac^a ^we.
I will drink no more on those roads of Sligo,
And I will raise my sails to the border of the green wood,
( Where) I will drink enough on Sunday, and will be merry,
In hopes that I may get a kiss from my stoirin, the blossom of whiteness.
Standing- alone, it may appear to many that these lines have but little pretension to
poetical merit ; but in two lines of another stanza — which are all of it that Mr. Curry can
recollect — there are indications of a poetical feeling which might lead to a regret that the
whole of this old song has not been preserved. These lines are : —
'Ca au blAc bin) Aft t)A ti)ófTvce A3vf at) pógrrjAjt A3 Filleaó ;
Jr 5é 5VT1 Iaóac Iaó&c at) TiAéb e at) pófAÓ A|* búbAc beóft&c a& pív3 pé roff*e.
The white blossom is on the bogs, and the Autumn is on the return ;
And though marriage is a pretty pretty thing, it is sorrowful and tearful it has left me.
P = Pend. 52 inches.
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ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND. 0
P&2mi2i HN B21JN. ^íflrl flf tjj* ^Ijilf 9StM5t.
For this beautiful melody and its accompanying" words, I have a great pleasure in acknow-
ledging' myself indebted to the kindness of my valued friend, Mr. Eugene Curry, a gentle-
man who, to many of the best characteristics of a genuine Irishman, adds — that not
unessential one — a love for the " dear old tunes" of his country ; a love so ardent, that it
has led him from childhood to gather up, and enabled him to retain in his memory, many
ancient and beautiful strains peculiar to, or only remembered in, his native county of
Clare, and which, but for that feeling", would, most probably, have been for ever lost to us.
The melody is given exactly as noted down from Mr. Curry's singing" of it, and as he had
learnt it from the singing- of his father in his native home, upon the ocean-beaten cliffs
of the southern extremity of the lands of the Dal Cass. But, as my friend informs me,
though the air and words connected with it have been long popular in that wild district,
they probably do not owe their origin to it, but rather to some one of the Connaught
counties, among which so many melodies of a similar character yet remain. I confess,
however, that in my own musical researches in those counties, I have never heard it, nor
have I found a set of it in any collection either in print or manuscript. It is true, indeed,
that an air bearing the same name is found in the first of the valuable collections given to
the world by my friend, the late Mr. Edward Bunting — that published in 1796 ; and this
air re-appears under the same appellation, but with some unimportant changes, and united,
not very happily, to English words, in the collection of Irish melodies published by the
late Mr. George Thompson of Edinburgh, in 1814. And as I have alluded to this collec-
tion, I cannot forbear, in passing, to observe that it was deserving of a far higher appre-
ciation and a more extensive popularity than — in Ireland, at least — it ever received; being-
enriched with symphonies and harmonies which, if not always strictly appropriate, are,
at least to a cultivated ear, at all times fascinating-, from the exquisite refinement, the
vigorous power, the mystical romanticism, and poetical inspiration which they exhibit, and
which their author — the divine Beethoven — could alone display. But to resume : as this
air — which, perhaps, would be considered by many as one of greater beauty than that
now presented — is, however, of a rhythm, time, and general construction so different,
that it could never have been united with the words of the old song, it is very probably
misnamed, as many of the airs in Bunting's collections often are ; or, if not so, it must be
the melody of a different song having the same name.
As a very general, but most erroneous, impression has been fixed in the public mind, —
through the writings of persons having but a limited acquaintance with Irish music, —
that the slow tunes of Ireland are all marked by a sorrowful expression, it may not be
improper to direct the attention of readers to the character of this air as an evidence of
the fallacy of such opinion. " The Pearl of the White Breast" is a melody strongly
marked as belonging to the class of airs known among the Irish as sentimental, or love
tunes. Its cadences are all expressive of an imploring and impassioned tenderness ; and
although they express nothing characteristic of levity or gaiety, they are equally wanting
in those expressions of hopeless sadness or wailing sorrow with which the Murines, or
elegiac airs, are so deeply stamped. And although it may not have a claim to so high ;i
place in Irish melody as some other airs of its class, it is, as I conceive, a melody of no
D
»
10 ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
ordinary beauty, — perfectly Irish in the artful regularity of its construction, and deeply
impressed with those peculiar features which would give it a claim to a very remote,
though, like most of our fine airs, an unknown and undeterminable antiquity.
— Pend. 43 inches.
-9-,
É
4
Andante, mf f
i
-6
I
3=f
•v . C «_C
Legato. '
I?
i
3
rTrh;
*
F 1*
1 1 Hi
r ~# _____
- J 1/1 "P" • ♦
r
— •
-0
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J
With respect to the words now sung to this air, it should, however, be observed that
they are by no means of so remote an age as the melody itself — though they are older
than most of the songs now sung to our finest tunes, which have rarely an antiquity ante-
rior to the beginning of the last century. It is the opinion of Mr. Curry that this song-
is, probably, at least as old as the early part of the seventeenth age ; and as, for a peasant
song, it is not wanting either in naturalness of thought or appropriate simplicity of
expression, I have considered it as not unworthy of preservation, as well in its original
language, as in a nearly literal versified translation, which I have attempted with a view
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
11
to convey to the reader some idea of a very usual metrical structure in Irish lyrical com-
positions. I need scarcely add that it has no pretension to notice but as such an example.
1
21ca CAiljt) bear Att) ctiaó,
\.e bljAÓAiT) A^vr le Ia,
Jr X)} féA&A|tt) a f*a5&il le bftéA5AÓ;
Yi] 'I Ajrbe cl|r le |tíKÓ,
4Dá 3cai)A]& pi ft le n}i)&,
Naji CAfceAtijAift 5 at) cabAcc lej-r* :
Q)o'r) pfiAfijc rjó bo't) SpÁjij,
<t>A bcéjjeAÓ Tt)0 jflAÓ,
3o 1**5*1 W-fl 3*^ ^ b* peACA]tj,
Jr tíiati at) bpql re a Tj-bkti
•Dvfi^t) at) Aftitiift c]Y]i} reo b'^jAfl,
Uc! 21)ac 2t)Y|fie t)a r;-5]tAr b'Aji rAOfiA&.
2
'Sa CA|lfr) cAflce blAc,
Í)á b'cv5Af feAftc ir 3fiA&,
Má cAbAfft-ri sac cfiÁc 8att) éftAb ;
'Sa IfAcc Afrjniri r\))x) aid óeAjj,
Re bvA^b ir ttjaoit) 'tja lÁ]rb,
<Da t)-5AbAtT)AÍr a c'Afc-r| céjle :
P05 ir Wfle Police,
'S bArtftAfóe 3e<xl bo Iait),
2lré 'r)fArirtpqr)i}-ri 30 bft&c it>ati rpf1^6 ^e*c :
'StrjAft &T) bATbfA 'cAO] CÚ A T)-bÁT),
21 PéAjtlA at) BjioIIai5 biviij,
Náfi c|5 iDjre rlAir or) tt-aoijac.
1
There 's a colleen fair as May,
For a year and for a day
I have sought by ev'ry way, — Her heart to gain.
There 's no art of tongue or eye,
Fond youths with maidens try,
But I 've tried with ceaseless sigh, — Yet tried in vain.
If to France or far-off Spain,
She 'd cross the wat'ry main,
To see her face again, — The seas I 'd brave.
And if 'tis heav'n's decree,
That mine she may not be,
May the Son of Mary me — In mercy save.
2
Oh, thou blooming milk-white dove,
To whom I 've given true love,
Do not ever thus reprove — My constancy.
There are maidens would be mine,
With wealth in hand and kine,
If my heart would but incline — To turn from thee.
But a kiss, with welcome bland,
And touch of thy fair hand,
Are all that I 'd demand, — Wouldst thou not spurn ;
For if not mine, dear girl,
Oh, Snowy -breasted Pearl !
May I never from the Fair — With life return !
pi2tNCSC2U<b, mo Pié2iK2ic2t ne ó ce2iBB2iii2ijN.— ^lnnittj, nr p Irnrnrn, (DXnmlnu.
For the following- beautiful Planxty, now for the first time published, I am indebted to
my friend, Mr. John Kelly, assistant to Mr. Griffith on the Ordnance Valuation of Ireland,
by whom it was copied, at Listowel, from a MS. book of Irish tunes written by Mr. John
Shannon, or Shanahan, of that town, who obtained it from Roche, a distinguished fiddler
of the county of Kerry. The name of the tune, or in other words, the name of the person in
whose honour, according' to Carolan's custom, it was composed, yet remains to be discovered;
but there can be no uncertainty as to its being a genuine composition of our last distin-
guished minstrel ; and, however it may be estimated by others, I confess that it appears
to me to be one of the finest examples preserved to us of his peculiar genius in this class of
graceful and spirit-stirring* tunes. I may add that, considering how extensively the com-
positions of Carolan have been preserved, and particularly those of the sportive or planxty
class, it is not a little singular that a tune so full of animation and vigour should have
hitherto escaped the notice of the collectors of our music: and I can only attempt to account
for it by the supposition, which appears to me a probable one, that it was composed during
»
12
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
Cardan's visit to the south-western counties of Munster, where he was necessarily separated
from those who, in his own Connaught region, were taught hy him to commit his composi-
tions to memory, and who had the further advantage of hearing them frequently repeated.
At all events certain it is, that many of the tunes that Carolan is known to have composed
for persons in those south-western counties — as, for example, those for Dean Massey of
Limerick and his lady, — have never been identified by names, and, if they have yet escaped
oblivion, they must be sought for in the localities in which they had their origin.
r
— Pend. 13 inches.
fa*
Allegro. P
r f
9
r
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:tfcE
ff
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n rf
IT ^
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
10
As the preceding* specimen of the class of tunes known by the term Planxty — or Plansty,
as it is written in Burke Thumoth's publication of Carolan's compositions — is the first
appearing" in this work, and will be followed, during- its progress, by other as yet unpub-
lished tunes of the same character, it may be desirable to offer, in this place, a few
observations on the characteristics and origin of this class of melodies in Ireland ; and
also on the signification and etymology of the name by which such tune3 are, or have
been, commonly designated.
The Planxty, then, is a harp-tune of a sportive and animated character, not intended
for, or often adaptable to, Avords ; and — with the exception of three or four tunes to which
possibly the term has been incorrectly applied — it moves in triplets, with a six-eight
measure. In this last characteristic, as to time, it is similar to that most common in
the Irish Jig, or Rinnce ; but the Planxt}^ differs from that more ancient class of tunes in
its having less rapidity of motion, — thus giving a greater facility for the use of fanciful or
playful ornamentation, — and also in its not being bound, as the Jig necessarily is, to an
equality in the number of bars or beats in its parts. For the Planxty, though in some
instances it presents such an equality, is more usually remarkable for a want of it;
the second part being extended to various degrees of length beyond that of the first,
so that it would be thus equally unfitted for a dancing movement, as, from the irregularity
of its cadences and the unlicensed compass of its scale, it would be unadaptable to a
singing one. Indeed this difference, in tunes which have often so many other features in
common, appears to have been well understood by Carolan ; for in all those tunes which he
has himself called Jigs, though differing in other respects but little from those called
Planxties, he has taken care never to violate the law of equality in the length of their
parts or movements.
A still closer affinity, however, than that now noticed as connecting the Planxty with
the Jig, is found in the characteristics of the Planxty and the Pleraca, — an affinity so
close, indeed, that the difference seems to me to be only in names which are convertible,
and are so used in a collection of Irish tunes, chiefly of Carolan's composition, which was
published in Belfast, by Mr. John Mulholland, in 1810, the term Planxty being there given
as the English name, and Pleraca as the Irish one of the same tune. But be this a? it
may, the tunes called Planxties, as well as those called Pleracas, owe their origin, if not,
as I believe, their names, to Carolan; and are to be regarded as a class of festive harp-
tunes composed in honor of his patrons or hospitable entertainers, and, as such, only
differing from his other airs composed for the same purpose, in the greater gaiety and
playfulness of their movements. It is true, indeed, that the harpers immediately preceding-
Carolan — as Eory O'Kane, the two O'Connallons, and, no doubt, others — had already
introduced, both in Scotland and in Ireland, the custom of composing, as offerings of
gratitude to their patrons, tunes of a purely instrumental character, and which had usually
but little of the simplicity and regularity of structure of the vocal and dance-tunes of more
remote times; and such compositions were known simply by the names of the persons in
whose honor they were composed, — as "Lady Iveagh," "Miss Hamilton," &c — or with
the Irish word, Port (which signifies a tune), prefixed to such name, as " Port Athol,"
u Port Gordon," " Port Lennox," &c : and in the composition of such tunes, therefore,
Carolan only trod in the footsteps of his predecessors. But, in the construction of his
Planxties and Pleracas, he must be considered as an innovator on the time-established
D
14
*
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
features of his country's music ; for I have not heen able to find any example of this class
of tunes of an age anterior to his time : and such tunes appear to owe their origin to an
ambition on their composer's part to imitate, and perhaps rival, those alleg'ro movements
called gigas, which occur in the contemporaneous sonatas of the Italian composers, Corelli,
Geminiani, and others, of whose works, then popular in Ireland, Carolan became so ardent
an admirer, that in nearly all his compositions the results are more or less apparent. It
is, however, in his Planxties that we find the most successful efforts of his imitative genius.
Wanting*, as he obviously did, the requisite knowledge of the laws of harmony, so con-
spicuous in the works of those great masters, his more ambitious attempts at imitation
are often ludicrously rude and abortive; while in his Planxties, which required less
scientific ability, he usually trusts more to his fine natural genius for melody. And of
these compositions, it may not perhaps be saying too much that, if they want the deep
gravity of thought and the scientific progressions of harmony found in the gighe of his
renowned originals, such wants are often amply atoned for by a display of imaginative
and graceful sportiveness, — touched frequently, too, with sentiment, drawn from his own
Irish nature, — which even those great masters might well admire, and would probably
have vainly attempted to rival.
As it thus appears that the airs called Planxties and Pleracas owe their origin to
Carolan, we should naturally expect that those terms have a no higher antiquit}- than
that of the tunes they were intended to designate, — and such appears to be the fact.
Neither of these terms are found in Irish writings of an earlier age, nor does the Irish
languag'e possess any verbal roots from which either of them could have been formed :
and hence, as regards the term Planxty, or Plansty, as I have found it written, I was
for some time disposed to believe that it might possibly have been formed from the
English word prance, in its sense of springing or bounding motion ; or the word prank, in
its sense of a wild flight, in either of which senses the term Prancy, or, by a natural
corruption, Planxty, would be very expressive and applicable to the motions of such
tunes. But my friend, Mr. Curry, has supplied me with another derivation, equally
English, which, if not more satisfactory, has, at least, a contemporary authority to
support it, namely that of the bard's own friend and brother poet and harper, Charles
MacCabe. It occurs in a Gaelic lampoon, or satirical poem, which the latter addressed
to his friend in revenge, not only for a practical joke which Carolan had played upon
him, — namely, having- him put into a sack while in a state of helpless intoxication, at the
public-house of a man named William Egiis, at Mohill, in the county of Leitrim, where
the brother bards had been boozing for a day together, — but, for the additional mortifica-
tion which Carolan had inflicted, by writing* some caustic verses in ridicule of MacCabe
for taking the matter too seriously. The language of the poem, as Mr. Curry states, is
not inferior to that of the best Irish poetical compositions of the seventeenth century ;
and a literal translation of it will scarcely fail of amusing* the reader, from the mixture
of truth which gives such effect to its satire : —
" There is not a man with two horses, from Galway
To Down Patrick,
That you have not put under contribution,
And, 0 ****** ! what are the claims for it ?
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
15
The claim is comical, — it is very fortunate —
[It is] because you smoke a pipe,
And that you prefer not brandy, wine, or ale,
To a drink of the Guile.
It matters not which of them, you pledge your faith,
That you are satisfied,
With a capacious cup, full of mash,
With shouts and clamour.
There is not a five-groat man from Ballinrobe
To Ballyshannon,
That has not given three pennies into your fist
To you for a Flaxsaraidh.
An old gray woman gave you, below in Leitrim,
For your Pleraca,
A pair of stockings, and she toothless, —
And you were satisfied.
The music is better that you play for a little woman
Of sportive habits,
Than for the high blood of the Lord Dillon,
For three Moidores."
It can scarcely admit of doubt, that the word Flaxsaraidh — pronounced Flaxaree — in
this poem is intended to designate the class of tunes now known by the term Planxt}' ;
and, therefore, that it must either be the original form, or a very blundering' corruption
by the transcriber, of that generally-adopted word. But, as Mr. Curry remarks to me,
there exist strong* objections to the adoption of the latter assumption; as — First, that the
manuscript in which this form of the word is found, was written as early as the year
1729 — nine years previous to the death of Carolan — by Hugh O'Mulloy, one of the best
Irish scholars and scribes then in or about Dublin, and who, as such, was employed by
the celebrated Doctor John O'Fergus to make that fine transcript of the first volume of
the " Annals of the Four Masters," which is now preserved in the library of Trinity
College, Dublin. Secondly, that as Carolan was known to, and even patronized by,
Doctor O'Fergus — a fact proved by the bard's having composed a Planxty in his
honour — it is scarcely to be doubted that Carolan was also known to the Doctor's Irish
scribe ; and, consequently, that it is in the highest degree improbable that such scribe
would, or could, have written in a vulgar or incorrect form a word that must, at the time,
have been generally known and understood in most parts of Ireland ; and the more parti-
cularly, as we find that in the transcription of the other newly-coined word — Pleraca—
his orthography of it was strictly correct. As to the correct transcription of the word
Flaxsaraidh, therefore, there can be but little doubt ; but, of its etymological origin, t here
yet remains a great difficulty, which Mr. Curry has, with much ingenuity, endeavoured to
remove, by the remarks which follow : — a The word Flaxsaraidh," he writes, " will be
immediately recognised as implying something relating to flax. Now, in Carolaii's time
it was a universal custom — still continued in many districts — when a number of young-
women were collected together for the purpose of spinning, either within a house, or, in
16
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
fine weather, at the road-side, if a gentleman, a pedlar, or a musician, approached the place,
he was stopped by a thread which the girls drew across it ; or, if he entered the house, by
winding it around him, and at the same time greasing his boots, or shoes, with their oily
wool, if that were the material in hand. This fragile obstruction it was considered dis-
gracefully ungallant and churlish to break 5 and the permission to pass on was only to be
obtained by the gift, from a gentleman, of some money, from a pedlar, of some small
article of woman's wear — as a ribbon, or brass finger-ring — and, from a musician, of lots
of frolicsome dancing tunes, which would set the girls in motion. And as it will be
easily understood that Carolan, in his peregrinations, must have frequently — and probably
not unwillingly — found himself involved within the inviolable web of the Connaug'ht
mirthful spinners, it seems more than possible that it was such occurrences that suggested
to him a name, derived from the material of their occupation, for a class of tunes which
was so peculiarly expressive of the gaiety and wild extravagancies which so often attended
scenes of this kind."
With respect to the word Ple-raca — or Plea-raca — its meaning-, at least, if not its
etymology, is better understood. In the rather free translation, by Swift, of the words
written to Carolan's Plearaca na Huarcach, by Hugh Mac Gowran, a poet of the county
of Leitrim, at the beginning of the last century, it is rendered by the word Feast; but the
Irish lexicographer, Edward O'Reilly, in his " Irish Writers," better conveys its meaning
by the words revelry, and revel-rout, as "The Revel-rout of O'Rourke;" and by a meto-
nymy the term was applied to designate the class of tunes composed for such revels, or in
commemoration of them, — as the words "dance" and "march" are applied to designate the
tunes fitted to such movements. And an example of this application of the word occurs
in Mac Gowran's song, where the words rendered by Swift,
"Come, harper, strike up,
But first by your favour,
Boy, give us a cup ;
Ay ! this has some savour,"
should, if translated literally, be given as follows : —
Se]t)x) au PléAjtacA rin,
Pftxxp Sr]r>r) r3*MT«> *>W fe15 n&:
2lr1 V°> W cuiftn) com-
Strike up that harp,
Play that Pleraca ;
Quick, hand us a bumper of that drink ;
Ay — this is the fine ale !
"Wherever" — writes Mr. Curry — "the word Pleraca occurs in any Irish song or
rhyme of the last hundred years, it is in the sense of an abandonment to drinking,
dancing, singing, or love-making, &c, carried out in all imaginable riotous and reckless
gaiety, and was, no doubt, looked upon as the Ball of the times then passing. John
O'Huaneen, or Green, a country gentleman who lived near Ennistimon, in the county
of Clare, about the year 1760, wrote a comical and sarcastic Irish song on a Pleraca
given at Coad, near Corofin, in the same county, by Edward O'Brien and his wife Una,
at which the poet was himself a guest ; and from this song it can be clearly seen that
the Pleraca was an entertainment given by O'Brien to the neighbouring gentry. And
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
17
thus, too, in a song in praise of "Whiskey, written by Thomas Meehan, a witty poet
of the county of Clare, about the year 1770, the word Pleraca is used as designating a
dancing contest attended with riotous music and singing ; and he calls the tents at fairs
and races, at which such scenes were enacted, Both-Baca, i.e., a llaca-booth, or hut."
And with respect to the etymology of this term, Mr. Curry states that, "as the word Baca
is not known to be an original, or old Irish word, it is, probably, but a Hibernicised form
of the English word Rake, as in like manner the prefix Pic, is but a corrupt form of the
English word Play ; and so conjointly giving the sense of a raking- entertainment."
These etymological conjectures of Mr. Curry's I have thought it right to submit to the
consideration of the reader 5 although, as regards the compound Ple-raca, the general
philologist mig'ht, perhaps, be disposed rather to derive its primary vocable from the ancient
Irish word Fleadh, which signifies a " Feast," or u Entertainment :" and it must be con-
fessed that such derivation would seem obvious but from the fact that, according to the
best Irish authorities, no example has been found of a change of the consonant y into p,
while on the contrary, the change of p into f is very common in the grammatical inflec-
tions of the language.
H) CRejSFJt» 290 5Ká<b 30 <Deój<b etjé. mill m'n forsakt m.
For this fine air, together with many others of no less beauty, I have to express my
grateful acknowledgments to Mr. P. J. O'Reilly, of Westport, in the county of Mayo, by
whom they were noted down from the singing of the peasantry in the wild mountain dis-
tricts of that picturesque county. I regret, however, to have to add, that Mr. O'Reilly
has not increased the value of his gift by some detailed notices of the sources and localities
from which the tunes were obtained; and, that though acquainted with the Irish language
vernacularly, he did not feel himself competent to take down the songs to which the
melodies were sung ; as, in that peculiarly Irish part of Western Ireland, it might be hoped
that words of a higher antiquity and deeper interest would be preserved than those
current in districts in which, from the commingling of races differing- in origin and lan-
guage, the primitive manners and traditions have been obliterated. Without some such
knowledge of the character of the ancient songs, we have no clue to the sentiments
which the melodies were intended to convey, but that, sometimes — as in the present
instance — derived from its name ; for the words " My Love will ne'er forsake me" appear
to me most happily expressive of the triumphant and manly tone of feeling which per-
vades this air to a degree not often found among-st the melodies of Ireland. So strongly,
indeed, does this feeling appear to me to preponderate, and so different from that of our
tunes in general is the structure which was necessary to produce it, that, had this air
come to me from any questionable authority, I should have been inclined to doubt its Irish
origin; or, had it been shown to me as an ancient Gothic or Scandinavian air, such I
should have very readily believed it. Such affinities and peculiarities are not, however,
very uncommon amongst the multitude of our melodies; and, if we were allowed to indulge
in conjecture as to the probable origin of them, we might, perhaps, ascribe it to the long
occupation of our island by the Danes and Northmen, or even, not impossibly, to the
blending of Teutonic races with the Celtic in ages more remote.
F
18 ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
' — Pend. 36 inches.
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ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
19
^Blanrljnlií #lartin.
This air, which is both a song" and dance tune, was set, in 1837, from the singing- of a
peasant in the parish of Banagher, county of Londonderry, and it probably belongs to
that county. Though of sufficient merit to deserve preservation, it is not apparently an
air of much antiquity, nor one strongly marked with Irish sentiment ; but on the con-
trary, as it appears to me, with a sturdy English one, and particularly in its closing
cadences. Its structure, in nine-eight time, is, however, peculiarly Irish, as the two or
three airs in this time recently claimed as English seem to be much more probably ours ;
and the one or two tunes in this time claimed by the Welsh, are better known in Ireland
as Irish, than they are known in Wales as Welsh tunes. It would be strange indeed if
none of our innumerable airs in this time had never passed into England or Wales, and
become naturalized in those countries, as many of our airs in other measures certainly
have ; and there being so few of them claimed in either, can only, perhaps, be accounted
for by the assumption, that their lively character was alien to the musical sensation of
the Teutonic and Cimbric races in those countries.
p * — Pend- 1 3 in cli cs
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91H BU21C21JLL C210MMIB. CjjB IMflllt &\At $or;.
It is a strange circumstance, and one which may strikingly show how imperfectly our
melodies have been hitherto collected, that the air commonly called the BuachaiU Caol
Dubh has escaped the notice of former collectors, as there is not, perhaps, in the whole
range of Irish melody an air more generally known throughout Ireland, or one more
admired for its flowing- beauty. I have myself heard it sung in each of the four pro-
vinces ; but it is in Munster — to which it properly belongs — that it is best known and
most esteemed, being', as my friend Mr. Curry tells me, there ranked as one of the finest
tunes they possess, if not the very finest one : and I confess that in this opinion I fa 1
20 ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
strongly disposed to concur. Of an air so extensively disseminated, and — as usual in such
.cases — sung- to words differing in character in the various localities where it is known, it
should naturally be expected that there would be a great diversity in the forms which it
would assume ; and such I have found to be the fact. So great indeed are those vari-
eties, that, except in the essential notes and general structure, they have often so little
else in common, that the native of one province would, probably, iind it difficult to recog-
nise this popular melody in the form which it has assumed as sung by the native of
another. In such instances, therefore, it will be often difficult to determine which version
of a melody is the most correct one ; for, though a knowledge of the structure of Irish
tunes, and an acquaintance with the words sung to them, will determine the true rhythm
and accents, still their general sentiment, and the choice of their less important notes, can
be determined only by the taste and judgment; and hence, the set of a tune which to one
will seem the best, will not be deemed so by another.
From these considerations, I have not limited myself to the one set of this melody
which appears to me the most pleasing, but have selected, from some forty or fifty
settings of the air in my possession, three versions which appear to me to be the best
amongst them, and to contain the most marked varieties of cadence which they present,
except such as are not obviously of a vulgar and erroneous nature ; so that others can
determine for themselves their relative degrees of truthfulness and beauty. Of these
sets, the first and second were obtained in Munster, and are, consequently, the most
likely to be the best, as they certainly appear to me the most beautiful : and when I
state that they were given to me by my lamented friend, the late Thomas Davis, they
will, with many, derive an additional interest from that fact. The third set was taken
down by myself from the singing of the late Patrick Coneely, the Galway piper; and
it may, perhaps, be regarded as the Connaught version of the air, in which province it
is generally known by the name of Cassiodech Ban, or "White Cassidy," from a song so
called to which it has been united.
It is greatly to be regretted that the old words sung to this beautiful melod}T are lost,
or at least have not hitherto been recovered ; as the various songs now sung to it — and
they are numerous — are quite unworthy of being associated with such a fine melody.
The best of these songs which Mr. Curry has met with is one composed about the year
1760, by John O'Seanachain — or, as the name is now Anglicised, Shannon — a native of
Tulla, his ancestral patrimony, in the county of Clare. O'Seanachain had received some
education, and was endowed with a rich vein of native humour and plaj'ful fancy; but
these qualities were unhappily blended with such an eccentricity of character, as to
acquire for him the soubriquet of Seaan Aerach — Airy John — or, in colloquial English,
Flighty Jack. Leaving his native county, he crossed the Shannon to Glin, in the county
of Limerick, Avhere he became the guest and follower of the hospitable Knig'ht of the
Valley, Thomas Fitzgerald, on whom, and on whose children, he composed many pleasing
rhymes in his native language, which are still preserved. His words to the Buachaill
Caol Dubh are characteristic of the qualities of his mind, and, as we may well suppose,
indicative of their effects upon his course of life. Adopting a fancy suggested by the
old name of this beautiful love-tune, or perhaps of its original words, he alleg'orizes as the
Black Slender Youth, the whiskey-bottle which had been the cause of all his misfortunes,
and from which he has not still the power to separate himself. But, as an example of
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
21
the metrical structure of these words, and their agreement with the melody, I shall let
the poet speak in a stanza or two, in his own tongue : —
'NvAlfl CéjrT) ATI AOT)AC
21 ceAT)T)AC éAbATj;,
)X b]ox)t) at) élftoeir
2Í3ATT) ATT) lA]TT),
S|T)eT)r) cAob liorrj
2lr) bvACAlll CAol-bvó,
'S bO CVIft A CAol CTtob
JfCeAC ATT) IaTTT):
3o TT)-bjrr) ATT) e^cojTjr;,
5aU pY1T)T) bATT) Céjll
)X TT)fe Af CeAT)T) AT) clAJft,
21 b|ol T)A T)-&]leATT)
<Do b|OT)T) ATT) Céf AÓ,
SeAcc it)] 3AT) léjoe,
'SaT) JTVACC ATT) CTIA&.
<Do cAfAÓ 2loibell,
Na CriAise Léice otiaitjt;,
2l3AbÁil t)a rMse ;
'S bo 5A]b lion) bai3,
jr bvbA]Tic bA n-3&illeA6
2lt) bvACAlll CAol-bvb,
5<5 b-CAbATtfA& céb peAti
<t)Ó fVAf ATT) A]C :
<Do lAbAITl AT) CA0l-peA|t
3o 30T)CA 5éA]t lé,
)f bYt3Ai|tc T)A CTté|3^eA&
21 CAtftib 5T)Aic ;
"5y\i fivbA^l x'e ^l^e
Cjt& co]llce Tf ]t&]bci3,
te cytt)at)T) cléiBe,
)X 1© feATtc, att) 66*13.
When I go to the fair
To buy me some clothes,
And I have the earnest
In my hand,
Up struts beside me
The Black Slender Boy,
And puts his slender hand
Within my hand :
In a short time after
I am a maniac,
Without a particle of my senses,
Over the board,
Paying the demands
Which ever teaze me,
Seven months without a shirt,
And the cold freezing me.
We met Aoibhell,*
Of Craig Leith,
A going the way ;
And she took my part,
And said, if the Black Slender Boy
Would resign me,
She would give him an hundred men
Up in my place :
Spoke the slender man
Cuttingly and sharply to her,
And said that he would not forsake
His constant friend ;
That he had traversed Erinn
Through forests and plains,
With heartfelt love
And affection, after me.
This is enough, and, perhaps, too much. The song- called Cassidcch Ban, or u White
Cassidy," which is sung to the Buachaill Caol Dubh in the province of Connaught, is still
less appropriate to the sentiment of the melody, and is, moreover, of such a nature as will
not allow even a specimen of it to be translated.
• Aoibhell of Craig Liath, according to the Munster Legends, was the guardian Fairy Queen, or Bean-sidhe ( Banshee), of
Thomond, but more particularly of the O'Brien family. She appeared to Brian Boru on the battle-field of Clontarf, and informed
him of the fate of the battle and his death. She appeared also to Dubhlaing O'Hartagain, a famous warrior of the Dalc;i-
on the night before the battle, and as she could not dissuade him from going to the fight, where he was destined to meet his
death, she gave him an enchanted cloak which, as long as he wore it, would render his person invisible. Dubhlaing, or Dulaing,
went to the battle on the next day with the cloak on, and took his usual stand at the back of Morogh, the son of Brian ; and,
when the battle raged, Morogh, surprized that he could not see his faithful back-man, soon cried out that he coalJ hear
Dulaing's heavy blows, but could not see him. Dulaing, overhearing this, said, that he would never wear any disgui*e
that prevented Morogh from witnessing the faithful discharge of his duty towards him. He threw off the cloak, and was
shortly after slain by the Danish warriors. Craig Liath, or the Grey Crag, the residence of Aoibhell, is a remarkable rocky
hill overhanging the Shannon, about a mile and a half above Kilaloe, on the Clare side — See Battle of Clonhrf, Ir. MS
G
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
23
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cres.
24
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IKELAND.
215 21N 2Q-BójtHjM Btrj<be. at tji* f rllnm littl* Ennii.
The following- melody, tog-ether with the Irish words still sung to it, was noted down
during the present jTear from the singing- of Teig-e Mac Mahon, a county of Clare pea-
sant, now unhappily blind and pauperised, but whose memory is still a rich depository of
the fine tunes of his native county. The words have but slender merit ; but, as a peasant
composition, they are not wanting- in delicacy of feeling : and though apparently of no
great antiquity, yet, as an example of a metrical structure very common in Irish lyrics,
they have appeared to me not unworthy of preservation, and I have endeavoured to
convey their sense in an English rhythmical translation of similar structure and as closely
literal as perhaps the different idioms of the languages will allow.
2I5 At) rrj-bóicriÍT) bvjbe
21cA ]irt) nx> cTtofbe,
'M a lv|Óe Aft leAbAint) 'oa Jj-AOrjAfi ;
Ttvfbe ÓÁ blAO],
2t)A|t óji bvjóe Ai) rrjs,
í)0 rCA]peAr AT) &JIVCC bo '0 ^éjt 5IA1-.
"peAjt bo Cbloitrr) Ca]&5 tne,
Bbí°r &ív coiti)&eAcc,
'S TT)é A T>5AlATt AT) bAlf bA b-éA3tT»Air I
'S A CVrt)A1T)T) 3eAl A fCOTt,
Ma bjoÓ OTicrA bftór),
2I5 y]x) bvACA]U beAr 05 Ab bftéA5AÓ.
At the yellow boreen
Is my heart's secret queen,
Alone on her soft bed a-sleeping ;
Each tress of her hair,
Than the king's gold more fair,
The dew from the grass might be sweeping.
I'm a man of Teige's race,
Who has watch' d her fair face,
And away from her, ever I'm sighing : —
And oh ! my heart's store,
Be not griev'd evermore,
That for you a young man should be dying.
b-^Ai3|nT)-ri rrjo rivti,
<t>0 ÓéATrpAltTT) 6] CYSTIC,
Ba beffe bA 'ft bvbjtAb a t)-B|H|t;t);
J r bo be]c A|ce at) bATift,
Cbojóce 'r 30 bTiAc,
O feAftAiB ir ó rt)i)Aib A]t ^§|le.
2t)vft Ar Ab bftollAc 5eAl bAt),
'Ca folvf 5AC I A,
Jr t)| Ai|trr)irn-ri cIati 3eAl c'éAOA|ti ;
j[* bA b-fréAbAitrtr a riAÓ
OyV- cvrA rno 3]tAó
MjoTt b' eA3Uc rt)é ati 6a]1 At) é*3A.
Should my love with me come,
I would build her a home,
The finest e'er told of in Erinn ;
And 'tis then she would shine,
And her fame ne'er decline,
For bounty, o'er all the palm bearing.
For in your bosom bright,
Shines the pure sunny light,
As in your smooth brow, graceful ever ;
And oh ! — could I say
You're my own, — from this day
Death's contest should frighten me never.
With respect to the melody to which these words have been united, I should, perhaps,
remark, that it appears to me to be a good example, both in its structure and in its tone
of sentiment, of a class of tunes which are very abundant in the county of Qlare, and
which, to some extent at'least, may be considered as peculiar to the ancient territory of
Thomond. They are usually of that compound structure known as six-eight measure,
have an animated movement, and, even when blended with cadences of tenderness or
sorrow, breathe a manly buoyancy of spirits, in a high degree characteristic of a vigorous
race, and such as it might be expected would emanate from, and be expressive of, the
feelings of the great warlike and unconquered tribe of the Dal-Cais.
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
2.",
V
% —
Allegretto. ^
to
•
nflr
— M^-^l
26 ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
rev® m ojKj^t). <&)p flmiglnniufs Bfyfetl*.
Amongst the numerous classes of melodies which a people so music-loving" as the Irish
invented, to lighten the labour and beguile the hours devoted to their various occupations,
there is, perhaps, no one of higher interest, and certainly no one that I have listened to
with a deeper emotion, than that class of simple, wild, and solemn strains, which the
ploughman whistles in the field, to soothe or excite the spirits of the toiling animals he
guides, as well as to fill his own ear with sounds expressive of peaceful and solemn
thoughts. The accompanying songs of the birds are scarcely so pregnant with sentiment, —
so touching to a sensitive human soul ; and it would be difficult, if not impossible, for a
mind not closed to the sense of beauty, to hear such strains without feeling a glow of
admiration for the character of a people amongst whom, whatever may be the faults en-
gendered by untoward circumstances, the primeval susceptibility to the impressions of
melody was yet, despite of all destructive influences, so generally retained ; and which
susceptibility has preserved to us so many indigenous airs, which, in their fitness for the
purposes for which they were employed, no mere intellectual art could rival.
Of the airs of this class, however, we have had, unfortunately, but two specimens
hitherto preserved, — unfortunately, as I say ; because, from the changes now in pro-
gress amongst the agricultural classes in Ireland — in a great degree the consequences of
the calamities of recent years — such airs are now rarely or never to be heard ; and, if we
would seek for them, it should be in those new-world homes of the Celts, in which, pos-
sibly, they may be for a time retained as heart-touching reminiscences of the green fields
which their fathers had for so many ages toiled in, and which their sorrows could not
make them cease to love.
The first of the two airs to which I have alluded was originally published in 1786, in
Mr. Joseph Cooper Walker's " Memoirs of the Irish Bards." It is a plaintive air, of
great sweetness and beauty, but very inaccurately noted, as to time, in that work ; and
the Editor has neglected to inform us of the locality in which it was procured. In
1821 it was reproduced, with some necessary changes, by our poet Moore, in the eighth
number of the Irish Melodies, in which, united to the words u Oh ! ye Dead !" it will be
familiar to the reader. And lastly, it has been again published by Mr. Edward Bunting,
in that last splendid volume of Irish Melodies which was given to the world in 1840.
As arranged, however, by that able musician, the original simple form of the air will
hardly be recognized, the time being changed from common to triple j and its refined sen-
timent is sadly obscured, if not altogether lost, by an attempt to convey the bird-like kind
of warbling, which Mr. Bunting deemed characteristic of the Irish whistler. Had he
heard it whistled, and not — as he states in his Index — played by a harper, he would
hardly have fallen into an error so egregious.
The second published example of these airs is also given in Mr. Bunting's last volume
of Irish music, the melod}' having been communicated to that gentleman by the writer of
this work, by whom it was set in the summer of 1821, at Doon, in the King's County,
while on a visit to its most estimable proprietor, the late Thomas Enright Mooney, Esq.
The whistler was an aged man, who had been from his }-outh a ploughman in the service
of that gentleman's family, and who had learned it from the whistling of his father and
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND. 27
/
grandfather, who had been ploughmen on the same estate ; so that it may be properly
ranked as the Ploughman's Whistle of that county. In Mr. Buntings arrangement of
this air, he has taken the same liberties as with that taken from "Walker's Memoirs —
namely, he has endeavoured to imitate what he supposed, but most erroneously, the manner
in which it had been whistled ; and he has changed the time from common — that is, two-
.fovr, or six-eight — to triple time. In this, however, as in the former instance, the change
of time is erroneous ; and, to effect it, he has been obliged to throw into the melody note9
which were not in my setting of it. Had he reflected, that airs of this class should be
ranked as a sort of slow-march tunes, he would at once have perceived that, though they
might have been suited in triple time to the movement of three-legged animals, they could
never have been marched to by animals who were either two or four-legged. And hence,
as I conceive, it may be taken as a rule, that all this class of melodies as yet, or hereafter
to be, recovered, should be written in common time, or that variety of it having two
triplets in a bar, and known as six-eight measure. Further, in connection with these two
tunes, it appears to me very desirable to correct some errors into which Mr. Bunting, or
his literary assistant, has fallen in the notices given of them. First, in the set of the
King's County Whistle, it is called " Queen's County;" and the same error occurs in the
index to the English names of the tunes, in which the acknoAvledgment is made that I
had given it to him. In the index to the Irish names it is, however, properly named as
the " Ploughman's Whistle, King's County." These errors are, indeed, of but little
moment ; but those which occur in the literary notices of this, and the other Ploughman's
Whistle — though, no doubt, accidental — are of greater consequence, as they are calcu-
lated to mislead the reader altogether. He writes : — " xxii. (No. 126 in the collection)
' Feaduidhil an airimh] 'The Ploughman's Whistle.' This curious melody is given in
Walker's Memoirs of the Irish Bards ; but, from its being set there in common, instead
of triple time, it is difficult to be understood. It is given here as whistled hj the plough-
man, and nearly in the acute sounds of the whistler, to imitate which the tune must be
played very slowly, and with the utmost expression. The second part bears a strong
resemblance to the primitive air sung by the boatmen on the rivers in China, both melo-
dies having the same cadence, and the only difference is in the time, the Chinese being
in common, and the Irish in triple time. It maybe observed here, that in many instances
there is a remarkable coincidence between the Hindostanee airs, published by Bird, and
the Irish melodies, proving the strong resemblance which exists amongst the primitive
strains of all nations." — p. 96.
Next he writes: — "xxiii. (No. 137 in the collection) 4 Feaduklhil an airimh Condae an
High,' 4 Ploughman's Whistle of the King's County/ is of a more plaintive character,
having a very melancholy and tender expression. It is considered by the Editor as
belonging to the most ancient class of Melodies. It may be performed an octave lower
with the best effect ; but as the higher octave, in which it is set, agrees best with the
shrill high sound made in whistling, it is arranged accordingly." — lb.
If then, on perusing* these remarks, the curious reader should, as most probably he
would, turn to the tunes themselves as directed, he would suppose that the first, No. 12C,
was the Ploughman's Whistle as given by Walker, and the second, No. 137, that of
the King's County, as given by myself. But this is not the fact, — the air numbered
126 being in reality the Ploughman's Whistle of the King's County, and, vice versa, that
28 ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
numbered 137 the one given by Walker. I should also observe that, while I differ wholly
with Mr. Bunting1 in some of his observations on these two airs, with others I entirely
concur. The coincidence observable between many of the Hindostanee airs and the Irish
melodies has often surprised and interested me, and examples of it in the latter will be
pointed out to the reader in the course of this work. But I cannot concur in the con-
clusion that such coincidences prove "the strong resemblance which exists amongst the
primitive strains of all nations." I also agree with Mr. Bunting, that the Ploughman's
Whistle of the King's County should be considered as belonging a to the most ancient
class of melodies." I believe them to be as ancient as the race of people who introduced
into Ireland the use of the plough ; and that their immigration was of a remote era, may
be inferred from the fact that plough coulters and socks of stone are not very unfrequently
found ; so that, even if such implements should be regarded as but rude imitations, by an
uncivilized people, of metallic articles, introduced by a comparatively civilized race, they
were, at least, imitations by those who had been the primeval predecessors of the race who
had become their instructors. To state all my reasons for this belief would extend this notice
to an unreasonable length, and some of them, as resulting from individual feeling, would
not, perhaps, be generally understood. Thus, I believe those airs to be of the most remote
antiquity, because I perceive and feel in them — in all of them — a like tone of sentiment and
perfect similarity of structure to the caoines, or funeral chants, which must, as I believe,
have been brought into Ireland by the earliest tribes of people, be they Celtic, as no
doubt these were, or Teutonic, as, probably, were some of the later immigrations. And
to whichever of these immigrations the introduction of agriculture may be ultimately
shown to belong, it must at least have been at a very remote time; and these plough-tunes,
as well as the funeral caoines, breathe the very soul of a primitive race, who have been
ever remarkable for a singular depth of feeling.
I have been led into these remarks, partly because I wish to incorporate in this work
my own notation of the Ploughman's Whistle of the King's County, as I find it written
in my note-book, as given below; and partly because I have it in my power to add a few
more specimens of the ploughmen's tunes to the two already published.
id. 21 inchei
$4
U
Anda
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ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
29
The specimen which follows I may call the Ploughman's Whistle of the county of Kil-
kenny, as it was from that county it was procured. It was sent to me, tog-ether with
mairy other unpublished airs, in the course of the last year, by Mr. James Fog-arty, late
of Tibroghney; and it was, as he stated, learnt by him in his boyhood "from the whistling
of his grand-uncle, driving* four horses." As an example of this class of melodies, it is
remarkable in having* three strains, or periods, of which the last should be played a little
faster, and with more animation, than the two others : —
• -Pend. 21 inches. rT"°1 , 7"*** 1 [TH ■
If
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To the preceding- specimens of the ploug*h tunes I venture to add, in this place, another
of perhaps still hig-her interest, as having- been occasionally sung- with words, when the
ploughmen and their assistants became somewhat impatient for their call to dinner. The
tune annexed, as well as the Irish stanza, was noted down from the whistling of Teige
Mac Mahon, a county Clare peasant; and the interesting* notice of the words which follows
was given me by Mr. Curry, who had become familiar both with the melody and words in
early youth : —
" To understand fully the meaning of these words, a few remarks are necessary. Down
even to our OAvn well-grown boyhood, it was usual in Ireland to have three men engaged
at the plough with the one set of four or six horses. One man (JomíujAióe) drove the
horses, at their head; another, called the Tailsman (2li|te<\Ti)), stood in the fork, to guide
and manage the plough; and the third man (C^on^t) vety) leaned on the head of the
plough with a crutch — which was called the Third-man's stick — to keep it down ; as the
tendency of the short chain of the hinder horses was to pull it up. It was the Tailsman
that delivered the above charge to his fellows, — first to the driver, to behave either kindly
or unkindly to the horses, as the hospitality or the churlishness of the employer might
deserve ; and, secondly, to the Third-man, — as the man who leaned on the crutch was
called, — desiring him to take his crutch out of the socket at the head of the plough, to
put his foot in its place, and look up to see if their dinner was coming. W hen the house-
wife of the emplo}Ter happened to be a careless woman who delayed the dinner and perhaps
supplied it scantily, the Third-man gave a very unfavourable account of the prospect of
i
»
30
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
the coming- repast, and so at intervals the strain would he thus repeated — the Tailsman
singing- and addressing the driver, and the Third-man speaking : —
Bjtob if bvAil if c]ort)&]T),
taiJtÍT) TIYA6 TjA bftOC tT)t)A,
Coy aji at) 5-céAcc, a CbortjAjf,
Jf péAc ad b-p-jl Ari D-oínéri A5 ceAcc.
'T><\ fé 6a brA^T).
Br»o& ir bvA]l ir qornAiri, &c.
'Ca fé 6 a DYaIaÓ.
BflOb 1f bvA^l If C|OtT)A|1}, &C.
'T>'& fé 6a caic6a6.
B|to& if bvAjl ir cioroívir), &c.
'Ca f& 6a ctiva6a6.
BflOfc Jf bvA]l If CjOtTJAlr), &c.
"Civ ré 6a ri)e]lc.
Briob if bvAil if ciort)Airj, &c.
'Cíx fé 6a criiACftA&.
Bft°& If bvAil if cjornAit}, &c
'Ca fé 6a flvi^e.
B[tOO If bYAll If ClOrtJAlT), &c.
fé 6a iitjAiTje.
Bfiot) ^ bvAil if qornAit}, &C.
'Ca fé AceACC.
l)ób, a if cion^i?,
LAIftít) TIYA0 t)A &eA5-TÍ)T)A,
Scvjfi 1)A CApA^U, A "CboTTJAIf,
2Í0O1f 'CA Aft T>-6jr)éTl AC6ACC.
Tails-man. — Goad, and strike, and drive,
The bad woman's little brown mare ;
Put your foot on the plough, 0 Thomas,
And see if our dinner is coming.
Third Man. — It [i.e., the corn/or it] is a-reaping.
Tails-man. — Goad, and strike, and drive, &c.
Third Man. — It is a-threshing.
Tails-man. — Goad, and strike, and drive, &c.
Third Man. — It is a-winnowing.
Tails-man. — Goad, and strike, and drive, &c.
Third Man. — It is a-drying.
Tails-man. — Goad, and strike, and drive, &c.
Third Man. — It is a-grinding.
Tails-man. — Goad, and strike, and drive, &c.
Third Man. — It is a-sifting.
Tails-man. — Goad, and strike, and drive, &c.
Third Man. — It is a-kneading.
Tails-man. — Goad, and strike, and drive, &c.
Third Man. — It is a-baking.
Tails-man. — Goad, and strike, and drive, &c.
Third Man. — It is a-coming.
Tails-man. — Hób, and Héin,* and drive,
The good woman's little brown mare :
Unyoke the horses, 0 Thomas,
NoW that our dinner is coming.
K All then repeat, merrily, these last lines, as a chorus in unison."
It should be observed that these words are sung to the latter half of the melody only,
beginning at the fifth bar, the words of the preceding half being but a repetition of the
words Hóbo, Jióbobobó, applied as an encouragement to the horses.
• — Pend. 21 inches
A
Andantino.
m
m
1- — = — 0 > f I r*^= Vi
an
* Hób and Hein are expressions of endearment and encouragement addressed by drivers or guides to their horses, but some-
times have the meaning of off and on the ridge.
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND. 31
m Fjuea<b ó ftm 3snt- Cjie Hrfnra frnm /ingnl.
The following" wild and spirited martial air is one of the many ancient march-tunes still
traditionally preserved in Ireland, and which are assumed to belong to the great Munster
King, Brian Boru, or to his time. It is the tune known among-st the pipers as tt The
Return from Fingal," from being" supposed to be the march played, or sung-, by the
Munster troops on their return home from the glorious, but dearly-bought, victory at
Clontarf, a.d. 1014, — and as expressive of the mixed feelings of sorrow and triumph
which had been excited by the result of that conflict. How far this assumption of the
remote antiquity of the tune can be relied on, there cannot now, of course, be any evi-
dence to determine ) but, from its structure and character, there can be little doubt, at
least, of the antiquity of the strain as an Irish march ; and the tradition connected with it
should not, perhaps, be too lightly rejected.
It should, perhaps, be remarked, that the pipers now usually play this air without
strictly attending" to the minor mode to which it obviously belongs, and so give it a
barbarous character, destructive to the air, and with which it would be impossible to
combine any harmony of a correct nature. By playing the first part, however, in the
major mode, the similarity of the first section to that of Auber's March in La Muette de
Portici will be more immediately recognized.
32
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
^nplnr 36nlltó -tar.
The following" air was taken down, about forty years ago, from the singing* of the Dublin
ballad-singers, by whom, at that period, it was very commonly applied to the street
ballads of the day. I regret that I have long forgotten the name by which it was best
known, and, therefore, cannot now identify it with any of the popular ballads of that time.
0 = Pend. 32 inches
I r
m
SE
r^ffr I iff) ufe^
2i sjNéM) tu5 an ciú teat:. <D Stuny, ijnn Ijnnx hnnu anui[ tjrt ^nlra.
The following* air will probably interest the lovers of our national music, as being the
original vocal melody on which the popular reel, or dance-tune, known as " Pease upon a
Trencher" has, apparently, been formed or founded, and which, in that form, has been
used as a song1 and chorus by O'Keefe, in his musical farce of "The Poor Soldier," and by
Moore, as a song* in his Irish Melodies, connected with the playful lyric beginning with
the words " The Time I've Lost in Wooing." Such adaptation of the older vocal melodies,
in slow or moderate time, to the purposes of dance-music — by such changes in time and
cadence as would give them the necessary liveliness — is of frequent occurrence, and may
be considered as the cause of the sentimental character which pervades so many of our
reel and jig tunes, and which renders them easily reconvertible into song-tunes of a more
serious nature.
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IKELAND. 33
This — as I conceive — original form of the melody was set in the parish of Bannagher,
county of Londonderry, in the year 1836, and has never been hitherto published.
= Pent
i. 27 inches.
= =r=5=
4
J
Allegretto.
^ ■ •
■ rl —
— 9 -i-s—
-f—
— H
1
_ N
H
t±=J=t
•
J — *
•
r
u
r
hr
N=
r •
— ^ — r-»
f—rf
i
— kl
-H 1 — J | »■
_r-a_h
r
•
if*
1— #—
á
di
O
m.
-. -1
J . '
-0- •
I
—
rV
C0F2t)2ic spájM62ic, Mó, 2iM <t>RU2t)2it)ójR. (Tornutr Ipnittrnrlj, nr, frnnimrr.
This tine air will be familiar to many of my readers as one of the Irish tunes first, as far
as I am aware, introduced to the English public b}- O'Keeffe, the dramatist, in his once
highly popular musical farce of " The Poor Soldier," in which it is sung- to the silly words
u Good Morrow to your Nig-htcap." A different and less correct version of the tune — the
accents being wholly changed — has also been given by Dr. Arnold in his musical farce of
" Peeping- Tom of Coventry;" and this latter version has been seized on as Scottish pro-
perty by Mr. George Thompson, of Edinburgh, in whose collection of Scottish Melodies
it has been published as harmonized by Haydn, and with words written expressly for it
by the poet James Hogg. As, however, this air has not, that I can find, been hitherto
incorporated in any of the published collections of our melodies, nor has its name been
preserved, or its Irish origin and antiquity established, I have deemed it desirable — in
accordance with the plan of this work in such cases — to give it a place in this collection.
This tune is known by the name )y 3o|tcA Cy-sacta, or, "And Hunger to you" — and
perhaps b}T many others — in the province of Connaught ; but it is in Minister, to which it
owes its origin, that it is best known, and particularly in the counties of Cork and Kerry.
K
34 ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
being-, as Mr. Curry finds reason to believe, the elan march of the princely tribe of the
Mac Cartli3's; anciently located in those counties. Of the various songs written to it,
the best which Mr. Curry has found, and of which I annex a stanza, is a laudatory and
warlike one, written for Cormac Mac Carthy Spaineach, of Carrig-na-var, and Tanist
of Muscry, in the county of Cork, by Shane Claragh Mac Donnell, a distinguished Irish
Jacobite poet, who was a native of Charleville, in the same county, and — according- to
Dr. O'Halloran, the historian — died there in the year 1751.
<t>iA t)a b-£eApe a£> cvrn&AC, 3AT) Bprjcecc, jat) bjtóD, 3AT) rfylleAfc,
C^ai) a& ceAp le civ c]pc, a rj-bvccAr At) crínnnr1 ri)ó|p ;
21 b-c|5e|ttjAr cpeab 30 cpv-pAc, le ceAnnbpjre cfieóo 5Ant|TT>e,
'Sa piA]t tia Kaut)a c|vri)A|f clvcAjp, cyriipa, coir Iaó) t)a réol ;
3ll*6A1|te 5Afl&AC, 5P1ADOA 3pAÓtT)Ap, IAÓAITJ, Alvjtjt) ]0t)4X()*\f),
3ai) p]Ai) a pA|6ce piasIa, ]y bpACA^p i>plA BlApoAU 5]le rib;
2t)Ap-e n}ApcjiA|ó 2t)vrcftA]3e, at) CvpAj jatj ceó ApA cpje,
J I* CAfipAlX T)A b-KeAp T)A b-p10T)i;lAO]C, T)A CVtT)&A15eAt)t) A lot).
The God of Power protect you from affliction, grief, or injury,
Long as the renowned stem in the patrimony of the great race,
As the chief of troopful tribes to crush the daring foeman,
And to rule the happy Rinn [Ring-Rone] down by the side of Lee ;
A valiant champion, of sbining parts, generous, by all beloved,
To whom reproach from no one comes — the lord of Blarney's kinsman —
The pride of Muscry's heroes — the Curoi \_Mac Daire] of the race untamed —
And of Carrig-na-var, of the brave men who hoarded not their wealth.
In a satirical song" written to this air by Thomas O'Meehan, a poet of the county of
Clare, and preserved in a MS. of the year 1780, as well as in a song' on the battle of Car-
thag-ena, written by Thomas O'Gleeson, a poet of the county Limerick, the tune is called
"Jack the Drummer," by which name — no doubt derived from some popular ballad of the
day — it was, as we may assume, best known at that time in Munster. Of this song",
however, I have met with no copy, thoug-h it would appear to have been well known
throughout the southern counties. But, with a setting of the melody sent to me by Mr.
James Fogarty, late of Tibroghney, in the county of Kilkenny, he gives the following
notice of Irish words there sung* to it, which may possibly be a version of those entitled
" Jack the Drummer" by the Munster poets. Mr. Fogarty writes thus : — " This is an
Irish song', in which is carried on a dialogue, verse for verse, between a big-drummer and a
farmer's daughter to whom he paid courtship. The drummer complains of her coldness,
and with bitterness expresses a hope that she may become the wife of a rake, who will
treat her with unkindness and neglect. But she replies, that her choice shall be a tine
hearty fellow, who will carry her to church on horseback, seated on a pillion behind him,
whilst his poor girl will have to trudge there through puddle up to her knees, and he
before her violently beating his drum." Be this, however, as it may, the two following-
stanzas, which have been recently obtained from Teige Mac Mahon, the Clare peasant,
are obviously a portion, however varied, of the song sung to this air in Kilkenny,
according to Mr. Fogarty : —
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
35
'Sa C4.]l]T) beAf, 1)A 3-COCAt) CA|*,
Mac pql rt)óó i)A bAC tja 3|téir>e OjtC,
2it) b-qcp A lion? bo'i? cijt óóeAr,
21 *íéACA|0 fCAl bA'fX T)-3AOlcA.
T/V3 tt)é 5|tív6 '5V|* cA'ctjeATÍ) Óv|c
f |Of bo'u c-|*ao3aI bft§A3<\c,
2t)<xjt fv]l '1*30 b-qcpA a bAjle l*ori7,
'S 30 tt)'-be|ceA '5ATtj n)A]t cé]le.
'Sa &btmi)Abói]t CAb cYjcceAji óvjc
Mac ReAt)A3Ab 'rAt) qjt cv,
'Sdí b-é fjt) Af tt)éAr \\om,
2lcC T)A peAbAJt Tt)é Cé'ft bjob CV.
<t)o cpoiceAW 3AbAi]i bA 3|teAbA '3AC,
2lf olc At) b" At) bO ri)')AO* &
2I5 ^vbAl tja ro-bóiérie ^AbA teAc,
Jr Iacac vjrtrie if -vjobvl.
0 pretty girl of the curling locks,
On whom the colour or hue of the sun is not,
Will you come with me to the southern country,
To visit for a while our relations ?
1 have given you love and affection
Unknown to this false world,
In hope that you would come with me,
And that you would be mine as my wife.
And 0, Drummer-man, what think you !
Are you not a Renegade in this country ?
And this even is not what I think worst of,
But that I know not what family you are of.
Your goat-skin, a-beating by you,
It is bad feeding for a wife
Walking the long road after you,
Bemired with mud and puddle.
It should be remarked that the words adapted to this air by Mac Donnell and O'Meehan
require a repetition of the firet strain, and also a return to that strain as a conclusion.
But such repetitions, by causing* the first strain to be played three times in succession,
while the second strain would be played but once, would obviously soon fatigue the ear,
and be at variance with the universal usage in, at least, all old march-tunes.
• • • •
-J 1 i'J-r
H
# 0 : -
ftrn
' i lj>-fr«T*
dim. ft
♦
30 ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
2iM chm t>Koj5e2iMM éjue. Cjj* Ularktljiirti €m mitjr a Cjmttg.
The following* air — which appears to be the orig-inal form of the tune called " The Old
Head of Denis/' to which Moore wrote his beautiful song on " The Meeting of the
Waters" — is one of many sweet melodies which I noted down from the singing of Biddy
Monaghan — of whom I have already spoken at page 7 — while on a visit to my friend Mr.
R. Chambers Walker, Q.C., in the summer of 1837, at his seat, Rathcarrick, county of
Sligo. I regret, however, to add, that I have forgotten the name by which the air was
known in that county, and I have therefore given it that by which Mr. Curry tells me it
is now generally known throughout Munster, both as a song-tune and as a jig. The song
which has given it the above name in Munster was written by Owen Roe O'Sullivan,
whom I have already mentioned as a scholar and Irish poet of some eminence, and who
died from the effects of reckless dissipation about the 3rear 1785 ; but of this song Mr.
Curry only remembers the three following stanzas.
Mí rUicít) B03 bAéc, da 3&A3 bot) cv|let)t) car cyaji,
'éj A3ATTH-A £é|T), ACC 3léAf TOO CYir>31ce fTAf ;
2Co catja &|tó|5eA0r» &lUe, bj ébtTiOTD iweAllcA ctiyai&,
<Do 50j&eAÓ óro' CAéb-rA An aodac TMaca nYA'b.
<Do cyj n)*-re at) r3Í")le y& cvjóce óotica, 6Yb,
O'n 2tMlAc bot) Scjvjb 'ri)í b]T)T)ri y&\&c i)A ?1\yc :
«t)<\ óoitice ad o\bce 'ro'i) Ti-bTiojgeAT) bjoó t-oIyt- A3ATT),
'St)A cTieib^iw ó'x) fA05Al T)Ac rojllre xt)«.\ar)e b|o6 \\oxt).
•Do f |YblA1T)T>fl CO^Uce, TTJAI^Tje, CAC]tACA, 'f CT)U]C,
Ó Catica15 30 h-9i]8ve, 'r 6 LaiJitj 30 «Dait^cat) ati nuiin;
3at) rSltlps Art)' AbA^Ttc, 3AT) T-e]bn) A]t cAiTt]b tja'ti CtjOT),
)X le b-eA5U at) &]to]5iT)T), bo 5eibii)t)-ri cottjctiotd it* cup.
In the following versification of these stanzas I have endeavoured to give a correct
idea of their metrical structure, without any departure from their literal sense.
'Twas no soft silly switch, nor a twig of knobb'd holly so short,
That I myself had, but one that would give me support —
My blackthorn cane with a thong, light ready and true,
Was stolen from my side at the fair of Tullacha rue.
This ramble I made on a night that was dusky and black,
From Mullach to Screeb, without drizzle or dust on my back :
Tho' dark was the night, yet my blackthorn gave me such light,
That I would not believe the world but 'twas morning bright.
Through ports, plains, and cities, I soon would track out my way,
From Cork into Aidhne, from Leinster to Dingle Bay ;
Without claim to regard, — or even a groat in my horn,
Yet good cheer I'd- receive from fear of my trusty blackthorn.
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
37
Many other songs have been written to this air in the South of Ireland, and amongst
them one of considerable merit by John Fitzgerald, son of the Knight of Glin, on Mary,
the daughter of O'Connor Kerry, about the year 1670.
P zzPend. 32 inches.
1 i^-^
— ' Lj rf
- dim.
?CzfL
0 — • •
T3\ 2DO S21 21H 21N 2U32UNN.
3$ij ínn is tqnra tjre Hinrr.
This beautiful and, as I believe, most ancient melody, is another of the many fine tunes
communicated to me by Mr. James Fogarty, late of Tibroghney, of whom — as a contributor
to this work, of many valuable melodies, which, most probably, but for him, would have
been for ever lost — I have already more than once had occasion to make mention. Of the
Irish song usually sung to it during the last century, Mr. Fogarty, unfortunately, could
give me but the following stanza. a It was," as he writes, ee a beautiful love-song for a
person crossing the seas," and, as he believed, " it was also political," — that is, in other
words, J acobite ; for this guise of a love-song put on to conceal treason — and which has
been so skilfully adopted by Moore in some of his finest lyrics — was an ordinary one
amongst the Irish, as well as the Scotch, immediately after the Revolution. This stanza
is, however, valuable, as, most probably, preserving the original, or at least the more
ancient name of the melody; and, also, as preserving' the words of the incongruous chorus
tacked to it, no doubt from some other song, and which had obviously suggested to
O'Keefe his popular song known as " The Cruiskeen Lawn."
i)o 3|tívó-r^ A|t at) aBaiut),
)X é 6a IvAfCAÓ o cow 50 torvti;
Ctiadt) 5<\t) bvjlle Af a ce&vv,
1f 3* b'Ail leATt) 5tií\6ír) ati F|AjtAT) at;t).
OUrrJAOjt) at) CTiviT-qt) h]o6 ré Iaij,
ÓIatT)<X01& AT) CflV|T-CÍT> l&T), IAT), IAT),
ÓlATT)AOlb AT) CJlY|fCft),
SlATVCe geAl Tt)0 TT)>1TIT)ÍT),
S'Af CYIT)A llOrt? A CVjljT) &vb T)6 b*M)
L
My Love is upon the river,
And lie a rocking from wave to wave ;
A tree without foliage over his head,
And what does my love want a straying there ?
Let us drink the cruiskeen, and let it be full ;
Let us drink the cruiskeen, — full, full, full !
Let us drink the cruiskeen,
The bright health of my mimical,
And I care not if her cuilin be black or white.
>
38
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
r
— Pend. 36 inches.
i
Andante, p
/
-<S>-
4
3
? — * «
-1 i
r-4-
#
— ©I
f r
rTir
w
##
Cj Lis -
-#
pi
-—
L*L^__ 1
— &
r. u 'r r
■ 1
Chorus, f
dim.
/
i
J « * *
— * 1 h8 — I — l , , h 1?% ,
BEE
63==«
^3
-#
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
39
Mtj Wximu .— % ^lanihj (D'Carnlnn.
Among the numerous Planxties of Carolan's still presented, there are many of gTeater
playfulness, spirit, and more graceful melody than the following-, but there is scarcely one
more thoroughly Irish in its structure and tone of sentiment. In this we have no
inequalities in the time of the parts ; and none of the ambitious, wandering, imitations of
the Italian gigas, so common in his compositions of this class. From the name of this
tune, we may assume that it was composed during Carolan's sojourn in the southern
counties — which was apparently before the }'ear 1720 — as I do not find that any of the
Wrixon family had property out of the county of Cork, where the name of its repre-
sentative has now merged into that of Wrixon Beecher, and has received a more lasting
lustre from the genius of the present Lady Wrixon Beecher than any it was in the power of
the Irish minstrel to confer upon her distant predecessor. Of Carolan's " Lad}' Wrixon"
I have found no account ; but she appears, pretty certainly, to have been the wife of
Benjamin Wrixon, Esq., of Ballygibblin, the head of the Wrixon family, and ancestor to
Sir W. Wrixon Beecher. This Benjamin Wrixon was the elder of four brothers, and the
most considerable personage of the name. He died about 1733.
The tune has been taken from that very rare publication of Carolan's compositions, pub-
lished by O'Neill, of Christ Church Yard, Dublin, about thej-ear 1721: and as it has never
received a place in any of the subsequent general publications of Irish tunes, I have deemed
it desirable to reproduce it in this work in the hope of giving it a permanent existence.
40
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
2t)21)Re M) 2t)2lCe21<t>2i.
My acquisition of the following* melody, as in so many instances already noticed, was the
result of an accident, but for which it would most probably have perished, with many
others of greater excellence. It is one of many tunes noted down about forty years since,
from the singing1 of a now aged lady — a near connexion of my own — those airs having1
been learned in her child-days from the singing of an old woman, who was frequently
brought in to assist in washing" in her father's house. And as those tunes had been similarly
learned by the washerwoman in her youth, an antiquity of nearly two centuries may
fairly be assigned to them, with the probability of a far more remote origin. The singer —
who was named Betty Skillin — was one of those characters that would not, perhaps, have
been easily discovered out of Ireland. A nearly illiterate peasant girl, but possessed of
singular beauty and a very sensitive nature, she had been led from the path of virtue in
her youth, and became the mistress of the ancestor of the noble family of Blessington —
the celebrated Luke Gardiner, who died at Bath in July, 1753. But, though supported
in splendour and treated with a devoted affection, she was not happy ; she sig'hed to be
an honest woman, and became so as the wife of one of her own chairmen. She had a fine
voice, and was a passionate lover of the airs she had learned in her childhood, and which
she never ceased singing while employed at her humble occupation.
Of the song- sung- by her to this air — which was a dogg-rel ballad one — I have only
obtained the following half stanza, which was sung- to the second strain of the melody.
Molly's mild, modest, kind, chaste, divine, — a beauteous maid,
Humble, meek, soft, discreet, it is by her my heart's betray'd.
0 — Pend. 14 inches
" -fa
Andante.'p
- • •
-A- i rr
n —
J J 1
J l
if
—d 1
—
-1
ú
o
—
dim.
—
— \
m-f-9~m
bp
J
J
o
|4|p
— b— I
9
•si
1 —
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
41
láu béoóa fail 31ÍDB.
This tune — together with many others — was obtained through the kindness of a friend from
a neatly written MS. music-book of the middle of the last century, which contained about
three hundred of the dance tunes at that period apparently the most popular amongst the
higher classes of society in Ireland. In its style it exhibits an affinity to that of the Jigs and
Planxties of Carolan, rather than to that of the older and more purely Irish dance music of
the country ; and it may fairly, perhaps, be regarded as a composition of that great com-
poser's time, if not, as possible, one of his own numerous productions. For it is certain
that, amongst the, as yet, unedited melodies of Ireland, there are a great number, and par-
ticularly of the lively class of airs, that should obviously be attributed to Carolan's prolific
genius ; while, on the other hand, there have been many airs of a tender and sentimental
character ascribed to him without reason, as they can be proved to be compositions of a
much earlier period.
M
42
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
COIS CUQ1N TilU$00RNa.
The beautiful shore of the barony of Mourne, in the county of Down, has suggested a theme
to more than one peasant English ballad-writer, and, consequently, given a name to several
of our melodies to which they have been adapted. Of these melodies, the following — which
is, perhaps, one of the most pleasing — was, with many other beautiful airs, noted down from
the singing of the late Mr. J oseph Hughes, of the Bank of Ireland, who had learned them
while a boy in his native county of Cavan, and preserved them in his memory during life
with an undhninishable affection.
Of the ballad words which he sang to it I have retained no recollection ; and the older
Irish name of the melody I have never been able to discover.
Pend. 8 inches. ^
Mgák
u
Allegretto.
. Jr;J f.
—
If v ^ g
— - — ^ — — —
0
as cRua$ son peaca an riiaom ajam. 3 mts{j tju iijfcjiEra's |5rí mm mini.
The following playful melody, with its words, was obtained in the course of the summer of
1853 from the blind county of Clare peasant, Teige MacMahon, already spoken of. The
words, though of no high poetic merit, are not without interest, from their natural simpli-
city, and as an illustration of the thoughts of Irish peasant life.
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
48
Qp qiua$ 3cm peaca 'n riiaoip 05am,
Qp cpuag jan peaca 'n riiaoip 050111,
Op cpuaj; jan peaca 'n riiaoip 05am,
'Sna caoipe beasa bdna.
lp 6 50ipim, soipim cu,
lp 5pdó mo cpóióe jan ceils cu,
lp 6 goipim, joipim cti,
Qp cu peaca beaj 00 riidcap.
Op cpuag gan bólacc baine 05am,
Qp cpuag jan bólacc bame 050111,
Qp cpua§ 5an bólacc bame 05am,
lp Cáicín 6 no mdcaip.
lp 6 joipitTi, joipim cú,
lp 5pdó mo cpfiióe jan ceilj cti,
lp 6 joipim, goipim cú,
Qp cu peaca jeal t»o riidcap.
I -wish the shepherd's pet were mine,
I wish the shepherd's pet were mine,
I wish the shepherd's pet were mine,
And her pretty little white sheep.
And oh ! I hail, I hail thee,
And the love of my heart for ever thou art,
And oh ! I hail, I hail thee,
Thou little pet of thy mother.
I wish that scores of kin e were mine,
I wish that scores of kine were mine,
I wish that scores of kine were mine,
And Katey from her mother.
And oh ! I hail, I hail thee,
And the love of my heart for ever thou art,
And oh ! I hail, I hail thee,
Thou fair pet of thy mother.
The musical reader will perceive that this melody has very much the character of a reel
tune, and, with its time quickened, it is used as such in the county of Clare.
0 ---- Pend. 30 inches
Jo
^5
=4*
Allegro.
EE
0
1 — rT^f
i
m
S3 \
1 # -
— »
V
; 1 —
-d-
2 =3ÍÍ
■ „ g » -
J c
-f
H
- — f—
0
0
0
_J_i! '
*f ^ ^
■-T -
_*_]
V
44
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
O'imcij mo $Ráó— 'cd mo óRoióe ceiNN. My tmt Ijns gnni — mtj 33wirt is mn.
The very pleasing melody which follows is one of those obtained from the county of Mayo,
through the kindness of Mr. P. J. O'Reilly, of AVestport, and for which I have already ex-
pressed my grateful acknowledgment in connexion with the beautiful air JSfi Threigjidh wo
ghradh go deoidh me, or, "My Love will ne'er forsake me," given at page 18. Of the words
sung to it I have no remark to offer, as they have not been transmitted to me. But in refe-
rence to the melody, it should, perhaps, be observed, that its construction is, like many others
from the same locality, somewhat peculiar, particularly in the second strain or part, which
commences like a repetition or variation of the corresponding phrase of the first part, but,
in the phrase following, surprises the ear by a graceful progression into the relative minor,
and then returns, by a skilful transition in the succeeding phrase, to the usual close, as found
in the first part.
'end. 12 inches.
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ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
45
an cailÍN bÓM. Cjre /cir tóirl.
This beautiful melody was noted down, in the summer of 1839, from the singing of the
late Patrick Coneely, a Galway piper of more than average ability, whose memory was
richly stored with the unpublished music of his country, and of whom I gave some account
in the "Irish Penny Journal" for the year 1840. Of the words which Coneely sang to
it — an Irish love-song — I neglected, unfortunately, at the time, to secure a copy, and I
have never since been able to obtain one. It is probable, indeed, that both the song and
air, which were learnt by Coneely from the singing of his father and grandfather, were only
known amongst the peasantry of the mountain districts of Galway and Mayo, as I have
never been able to trace a familiarity with either in any other part of Ireland.
The Cailin Ban may be regarded as a good specimen of a large class of melodies most
peculiarly Irish in their construction and general character ; as, with the exception of
Harry Carey's air of " Sally in our Alley," I have not found, amongst the old melodies of
England, Wales, or lowland Scotland, a single air having similar features. In a general
way, these melodies may, perhaps, be described as of a narrative, or excited discoursing
character, — animated and energetic in their movement, yet marked with earnest tenderness
and impassioned sentiment, — more or less tinged with sadness, yet rarely, if ever, as in the
Caoines, sinking into tones of extreme or despairing melancholy. They are, in short,
pre-eminently the love melodies of the Irish, giving " a very echo to the seat where love is
throned," and bringing before us, more vividly than is done by any other class of our airs,
those characteristics of the music of Ireland which excited the admiration of Giraldus Cam-
brensis, and of which he has given us so admirable an account.
These melodies are all in triple or three-four time, and consist of two parts, or strains, of
eight bars each, and the same number of phrases, divided into two sections. Of these sec-
tions the second of the first part is, generally, a repetition — sometimes, however, slightly
modified — of the section preceding ; and the second section of the second part is usually a
repetition of the second section of the first part — sometimes also modified in the first, or
even the first and second phrases — but, as usual in all Irish melodies, always agreeing with
it in its closing cadence.
In their expression of sentiment these melodies are similarly marked by an artful sym-
metry in design ; the phrases in the whole of the first strain having, usually, a subdued
tone, while those in the first section of the second strain rise into impassioned energy, as ir
the singer were excited by harrowing recollections, and then returning, as if exhausted, to
their preceding quietness, sink gently down to their final close. Of the class of melodies
which I have thus, as I fear, feebly attempted to analyze, I have already given examples
in the preceding pages — as in the Cailin Ruadh, p. 3 ; the Cleasaidh fir oig, p. 6 ; the
Buachaill caol dubh, pp. 22, 23 — and numerous other examples will be given in the pro-
gress of this work.
Referring now to the songs sung to a class of melodies so peculiar in their structure, it
will be at once apparent that such songs should exhibit a similar peculiarity, and an equally
artful regularity in their rhythmical formation ; and indeed it will scarcely admit of doubt,
that it is to this peculiarity of rhythmical structure in the songs that the melodies owe their
origin. These songs consist of double stanzas of eight lines each, or sixteen in the whole,
N
46
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
to complete the sense, and thus correspond with the two parts of the melody, and the sixteen
phrases of which it is composed. Of these lines, every four correspond to a section of the
melody, and consist of three quinto-syllabic lines, having a rhyming agreement in the two
last syllables, of which the first must be a long, and the second a short one, or in other words
a trochee ; and these are followed by a quarto-syllabic line terminating with an Iambic foot,
which must rhyme with the corresponding fourth line of the second section. Such a struc-
ture of versification would, obviously, appear to be one of great difficulty, and in the English
language the difficulty is almost insurmountable — as the rhymes must be consonantal as
well as assonantal ; but in the Irish poetry — as in that of many other ancient languages —
in which the rhymes are only assonantal, there is no such difficulty, and consequently it
became one of very general adoption, particularly for love-songs. Of the few attempts of
our educated poets to compose stanzas of this structure for Irish melodies, Milliken's burlesque
ballad of " The Groves of Blarney" may be referred to as an example ; but the best is that
called the " Deserter," written by the celebrated John Philpot Curran, a specimen of which
will serve to illustrate the preceding remarks : —
" If sadly thinking,
And spirits sinking,
Could more than drinking
My cares compose,
A cure for sorrow
From sighs I'd borrow,
And hope to-morroAV
Might end my woes.
But since in wailing
There's nought availing,
And fate unfailing
Must strike the blow ;
Then for that reason,
And for a season,
We will be merry
Before we go."
Excellent, however, as this adaptation is, and it sings perfectly to the melody, it will be
seen that it is not a perfect example of the Irish structure, as the line preceding the last
has no corresponding rhyme.
In the lyrics of our national poet, Moore, we find no example of the adaptation of a
stanza of this structure to any of the Irish Melodies, with the peculiar structure and senti-
ment of which, in truth, he had a far inferior intimacy than that possessed by the great Irish
orator. Indeed Moore appears even to have avoided the selection of melodies of this class
as subjects for his Muse ; and in the very few of them to be found in his work — however
happy in the expression of their sentiment — he has in every instance failed to convey their
proper native rhythm. And in one instance, that of his words to " The Groves of Blar-
ney," or, properly, " The young Man's Dream," so well known as " The last Rose of Sum-
mer," though he had before him the example of the tolerably correct rhythm of Milliken's
song to that air, he did not hesitate to change the accents and character of the melody
to suit it to words which could not otherwise be sung to it.
D'imtis sé 'sus t)'imci5 sé. jfo's gtmr, jit's gnnf.
The very pleasing and characteristic melody which follows was obtained in the parish of
Dungiven, county of Londonderry, in the summer of 1837 ; and it may, perhaps, be consi-
dered as one of the many ancient tunes which had their origin, and are now only to be
found, amongst the Irish race in that beautiful county. Its original, or at least its old
Gaelic, name is, I fear, irrecoverably lost, as the Irish language has ceased to be a spoken one
in that county : and the name which I have given to it above is borrowed from the first
48
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
lines of a local English peasant ballad now sung to it, and to which it probably OAves its
preservation. These lines run thus : —
" He's gone, he's gone, young Jamie's gone,
Will I never see him more."
To the musical reader who has adopted, or may feel disposed to adopt, the strongly
asserted theory of Mr. Bunting as to the grand characteristic of Irish melody — a theory to
which I have felt it necessary to express a qualified dissent in the Dissertation prefixed to
this work — it may be proper to direct his attention to this melody as an example — and by
no means a solitary one — of an air essentially Irish in its construction as in its tone of feel-
ing, in which such grand characteristic does not appear. I allude to the positive and em-
phatic presence of the tone of the Submediant, or Major Sixth ; of which Mr. Bunting thus
speaks : — " The feature which, in truth, distinguishes all Irish melody, whether proper to the
defective bagpipe, or suited to the perfect harp, is not the negative omission, but the posi-
tive and emphatic presence of a particular tone ; and this tone is that of the Submediant, or
Major Sixth, — in other words, the tone of E in the scale of G. This it is that stamps the
true Scotic character (for we Irish are the original Scoti) on every bar of the air in which
it occurs, so that the moment this tone is heard, we exclaim, ' That is an Irish melody.'"
That such tone is indeed a characteristic one, both of Irish and Scottish melodies, I by no
means deny ; but I cannot concur with Mr. Bunting that it is an essential, or even the most
characteristic feature of a true Irish melody.
Pend. 13 inches.
mm
Andante.
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thin.
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ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
49
oailÍN a ci$e tíioir. Cjj* (0irl nf fire (tot %vm.
This air, which appears to me to be a very characteristic specimen of the true old Irish jig,
is a very popular dance-tune in the counties of Cork, Kerry, and Limerick, in all of which
it is considered to be very ancient, and to have been originally used as a march. It is
known amongst the Irish-speaking population of these counties, as the Cailin a tighe }fhoir,
or, literally, the " Girl of the Great House ;" but in English it is called " The Housekeeper."
The set of the air here given has been selected as the truest from a variety of versions of it
obtained from those southern counties, and of which three have been communicated to me
by Mr. Patrick Joyce, and one by the Rev. Father Walsh, the present kind-hearted old parish
priest of Iveragh, in Kerry. Amongst these versions of the tune there are, however, no
essential or important differences.
As this tune is the first well-marked example which I have selected for publication of
the dance-music of Ireland — a large class of our airs which has received from preceding col-
lectors but a very small amount of attention, as if such airs were considered of little value,
but which I think of equal interest to those of any other class of our melodies — it appears to
me to be desirable that I should offer some remarks, not upon the antiquity of this class of
music in Ireland, which will be found treated of in the preliminary Dissertation, but upon
the various forms or subdivisions under which the innumerable airs of this class may be ar-
ranged, and upon the characteristic features by which they are to be distinguished and de-
nominated. I shall also, in connexion with a specimen of each subdivision or varied form
of these tunes, offer some descriptive remarks upon the mode in which they were danced, —
a subject not hitherto, as I believe, in any way illustrated, and which I should be unable to
treat of, but for the kindness of Mr. Patrick Joyce, who has communicated to me his know-
ledge of the subject, and whose words I shall in every instance use ; for though his obser-
vations, which have been formed on his intimacy with the dances of the Munster peasantry,
are applied only to them, they are, as I have every reason to believe, equally applicable to
the dances of the other provinces of Ireland.
The dance music of Ireland may then be described as of several kinds, of which the
principal are, — the common, or "double jig;" the "single jig;" the "hop jig;" the "reel;"
the " hornpipe ;" " set dances," of different kinds ; and various " country dances." Of these
dances I shall at present only notice the common, or " double jig," of which the tune
that follows is an example.
The common, or " double jig," is a dance tune in six-eight time, usually consisting of
two parts of eight measures each, each of these measures usually presenting two quaver
triplets throughout the tune, and each part being always played twice. In these general
features, this most common variety of our dance tunes only differs from the great majority
of the old clan marches in the somewhat greater rapidity of time in which they are gene-
rally performed ; and I have already expressed my conviction, that very many of these
common jigs were originally marches, and were anciently used for both purposes ; but on
this point the reader will find more in the preliminary Dissertation.
" The common, or 'double' jig," as Mr. Joyce writes, '4s generally danced by either four
or two persons, but the number is not limited. The dance to this, as well as to every
other kind of dance-tune, consists of a succession of distinct movements called ' steps,' each
o
50
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND
of which is usually continued or repeated during either four or eight bars of the tune. Every
step is danced at least twice in succession, first with the right foot, and after with the left.
If the step extend to four bars, or measures, only, it is danced twice with each foot, in order
to extend it over the whole of one part of the tune played twice. Every 'step' has corres-
ponding to it what is called its ' double step,' or ' double,' or ' doubling,' that is, another
similar step which extends to double the time of the former ; and in relation to this, the
original on which the double is founded is called the ' single step.' After a single step has
been danced, it is ' doubled ;' that is, its double step is danced immediately after with right
and left foot in succession.
"A movement, or as it is called in Munster, a step, is always danced in one place, — a
promenade round the room is never called a step.
"All steps are formed by the combination of certain elementary movements, or opera-
tions, which have got various names expressive of their character, such as 'grinding,'
' drumming,' ' battering,' ' shuffling,' ' rising,' ' sinking,' ' heel and toe,' &c. A few of the
most important of these may be described.
" The dance of the jig always commences with what is called ' the rising step,' in which
first the right foot is raised pretty high from the floor, and thrown forward, — then the
left, — and lastly the right ; which three movements correspond with the first three bars of
the tune, and the fourth bar is finished by either 'grinding' or 'shuffling.' Grinding is
performed by striking the floor quickly and dexterously with the toes of each foot alter-
nately, six times during a bar, corresponding with the six notes of the two triplets form-
ing the bar, and requires much practice from the learner. Grinding, when performed with
nailed shoes, is of all the dance steps by far the most wofully destructive to the floor — espe-
cially if an earthen one. Instead of grinding, however, shuffling is often substituted, which
latter is a lighter movement, and, as its name imports, is performed by giving each foot
alternately a kind of light shuffling motion in front of the other.
" After the rising step follow various other steps of a light and skipping kind, and com-
paratively easily performed, until a certain stage of the proceedings, when all the. dancers
move round the room, while one part of the tune is played, i. e., during the playing of six-
teen bars. This movement is commonly called ' halving' the jig, for it usually occurs about
the middle of the dance ; and the steps after it are generally of a very different kind from those
used before. After halving comes the really hard work, when battering, drumming, and
all the other contrivances for making the greatest possible quantity of noise, come into
requisition. Battering is of several kinds, according to the kind of tune. In a jig it is called
' double battering,' or simply ' doubling.' This is done by first leaning the whole weight
of the body on one foot ; the dancer then hops very slightly with that foot, and throws for-
ward the other, drawing it back instantly again, and striking the floor with the ball of the
foot twice, — once while moving it forward, and again when drawing it back. Thus the floor
is struck three times, and these strokes must correspond with the three quavers forming one
of the two triplets in a bar. Frequently this is done twice with one foot and twice with
the other, — which corresponds with two musical bars, — and so on to the end of that part
of the tune ; but, generally, battering is intimately blended up with various other evolu-
tions, and not continued for any length of time by itself. The term ' doubling' has been
applied to this kind of battering from the double stroke given by the foot that is thrown
forward ; and from this the jig in six-eight time came to be called the ' double jig.'
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
51
" In grinding and battering, the toes only are used. Drumming is performed by both
toes and heels, and is, perhaps, the most noisy of all the operations in dancing. In drum-
ming, also, the triplets of the jig are timed, and it is sometimes continued for a considerable
time, but is more commonly united with other movements.
"The movements I have described under the above names are only a very few out of the
number of those in use, — the rest having either no names at all, or names which I never
knew. No description can give an idea of the quickness, the dexterity and gracefulness,
with which these various movements are performed by a good dancer ; and notwithstanding
their great variety and minute complication, scarcely a note in the music is allowed to pass
without its corresponding stroke. There are few movements of the human body that re-
quire so much skill, dexterity, and muscular action, all combined ; and, for my part, I must
confess that I have never seen any exhibition of manly activity that has given me such a
sense of pleasure as a double jig danced by a good Munster dancer."
To the preceding remarks of Mr. Joyce I may add, that the jigs of this class are also
popularly known, at least in Munster, by the appellation of Moinin (pron. Moneen) jigs, —
a term derived from the word Moin, a bog, grassy sod, or green turf, and which, according
to Mr. Curry, is also an ancient name for a sporting place, somewhat in the same sense as
the English word " turf" is now applied to a race-course : and hence the application of its
diminutive, Moinin, to this kind of jig ; because, at the fairs, races, hurling-matches, and
other holiday assemblages, it was always danced on the choicest green spot, or Moinin, that
could be selected in the neighbourhood.
f
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52
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
b'pecmrc liomsa cunnir son sum 3 mull ratltfr jjnnt a 3#ftiki tnttlmtit a $nmii.
For the following beautiful air, as well as for the preceding, and many other melodies of
equal value, I have to express my very grateful acknowledgments to Mr. Patrick Joyce,
formerly of Glenasheen, in the county of Limerick, but now of Dublin, — one of the most
zealous and judicious of the collectors of Irish music who have voluntarily given me their
aid in the prosecution of this work. Like most of the airs in his collection, this tune was
procured in Munster, and it very probably belongs to that still singularly musical province.
It was learnt by Mr. Joyce from the singing of his brother, Mr. Michael Joyce of Glena-
sheen, who had it from his father. Of the Irish song sung to it, Mr. Joyce says that his
brother can now only remember the annexed fragment; but the subject of it was a com-
parison drawn by a young man between two women, one of them old and ugly, but very
rich, — possessed of large herds of cattle, and to whom he was importuned to get married, —
the other, a young and blooming girl, but entirely fortuneless ; and he contrasts the riches
and ugliness of the former with the poverty and beauty of the latter, whom he finally de-
termines to prefer. The fragment above alluded to is as follows : —
Sedcc picic bó bame, 5cm ariiapup,
*******
Da peippeac capal bo cpeabcac,
Dá peace picic t»onn Opuimpionn 65;
b' peapp liompa ainnip gan gúna
Na pmipce 00 peariiap caille cpón.
f = Fend. 20 inches.
Seven score milchers, without doubt,
********
Twice six ploughing horses to plough with,
Twice seven score young dun heifers ;
I would rather have a maiden without a gown
Than a stump of a fat, swarthy woman.
I dim.
Andante.
1 V *\
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0
0
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4
4
1 f\ I Pi '
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ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
53
In reference to the construction of the preceding air, it should, perhaps, be observed,
that it is one which characterizes, and is peculiar to, a large class of Gaelic melodies and
which may be described as airs in triple time, consisting of two strains, or parts, in each of
which there are two sections, and in each of these, again, two extended or irregular phrases.
Such melodies, therefore, when written in three-four time — with a view to enable the per-
former to mark the time and accents more readily — as in the example above, will have the
seemingly irregular number of twelve bars, or measures, in each part ; whereas, if consi-
dered as properly in six-four, or nine-eight time, the parts will consist of but four bars in
each part, or eight in all, — as in the example of the well-known air of this class called Cailin
deas g-cruidadh na mho, or "The pretty Girl milking the Cow," which has been always so
written.
Further, with respect to the rhythm of melodies of this class, I may remark that the
two phrases in each of their four sections consist in each of three accented, or emphatic
notes, each of which is preceded and followed by an unaccented one, with this exception,
that every second phrase closes upon the accented note ; or, using the terms of Grecian
rhythm, the first phrase of each section consists of three amphibrachs, and the second of
two amphibrachs and an Iambus. Hence it follows that the stanza suited to such melodies
should consist of eight lines, corresponding to the eight phrases of the tune, the lines alter-
nately containing nine and eight syllables, having their accents in accordance with those of
the melody ; and as a very happy example of such metrical adaptation of English words to
a melody of this class, I may instance Moore's song, " The Valley lay smiling before me,"
written for the Irish melody of Cailin deas g-cruidadh na mbo, or " The pretty Girl milking
the Cow," as above referred to.
Lastly, I would remark, that it appears to me in the highest degree probable that it is
to this class of the ancient Irish or Gaelic vocal melodies we should ascribe the ori°in of
that class of our dance-tunes, in nine-eight time, popularly known in Munster by the name
of " Hop jigs." Such dance-tunes, — as I have already stated in a preceding notice at
page 19, — are certainly very peculiar to Ireland ; though I have found an interesting spe-
cimen of a dance-tune, very similar in construction, in the Introduction to Wood's recent
valuable work, " The Dance Music of Scotland," where it is given, amongst the examples of
the old dance-tunes of continental countries, as a " Song for dancing ; of Sarlat, in the
ancient province of Perigord, now in the Department of Dordogne, in the south-west of
France." It is written in three-four time ; and as an interesting illustration of the preced-
ing remarks, I have taken the liberty of inserting it here.
m
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*
54 ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
o 'bean cm ci$e, Mac suamc esiN. <D Wmnn nf tip 3te, is nnt tjjat ptarat !
If we were disposed to take the widely spread popularity of an Irish tune as an evidence
of its antiquity — and we believe that such an inference would, in most cases, be a correct
one — the following air might be considered as of no recent origin ; for it has long been a
favourite in most, if not all, parts of Ireland. But, be that as it may, it is a melody of
considerable interest, as well on account of its strongly marked Irish character, as of the
uses to which it was applied by the peasantry of Ireland in troubled times.
To those who have inconsiderately, if not flippantly, expressed an opinion that the
melodies of Ireland are wanting in variety of character, — that they are tiresomely uniform
in their expression of an unmanly despondency, — or, in more poetic phrase, that they are
" the music of a people who had lost their liberty," and so forth — and such opinions are
still very generally expressed — this air, as well as numberless others still preserved, may be
cited in proof of the fallacy of such hasty assumption. It is true, indeed, that in this, as
well as in most of our old lively tunes, whether vocal or instrumental in character, there is a
blending of tones not in themselves mirthful or enlivening ; for, as the poet Moore writes,
" Even in their liveliest strains we find some melancholy note intrude, — some minor Third
or flat Seventh, — which throws its shade as it passes, and makes even mirth interesting."
But such tones are only like the judicious touches of dark colour in a bright picture, which,
instead of darkening, serve to increase its brilliancy, while they add to its substance and
vigour.
Again. To those who value a national melody on account of the historical associations
which may appertain to it, this air will possess an interest, independent of any intrinsic
merit it may lay claim to, from the fact that it has been chosen by the Whiteboys, and
other illegal combinations of the southern peasantry, as their choral song and night march ;
and, to men of their temperament, a very inspiring march and song-tune it must have
made. And hence, it naturally followed that this melody should have become the medium
for the dissemination of a large amount of excitement to disaffection, in the shape of Irish
ballad songs, more remarkable for the daring boldness of the feelings they expressed, than
for the display of any metrical skill or poetic merit.
Such rude ballads, however, are not without a certain degree of interest, as expressive
of the popular mind during periods of its excitement, and their preservation would not be
without value to the historian : but, unfortunately, they are now most diflicult to be pro-
cured, and particularly those which are the most worthy of preservation, namely, the bal-
lads in the Irish language, which were never committed to print, and rarely even to manu-
script,— so that they can now only be sought for in the dim and nearly forgotten traditions
of the people. Of the many songs of this class which Mr. Curry heard in his youth, he
has been only able to remember a few stanzas, and as they are all very much of the same
character, the following one will suffice as an example : —
Do cualapa pjéal a n-iap 'pa n-oeap,
5o paib Copcais ód 065 pá 06 '5cm mob,
General Hoche ip a claoioeam cinn 6ip,
Q5 péióceac an póiO Oo Bonaparte, —
G5UP 6 'bean an cige nac puaipc épin !
I have heard news from the "West and the South,
That Cork has been burned twice by the mob,
General Hoche, with his gold-hilted sword,
And he clearing the road for Bonaparte, —
And, O woman of the house, is not that pleasant !
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
55
In a melody so generally known in most parts of Ireland, it might naturally be expected
that there would exist a great variety of local forms, from amongst which it might he diffi-
cult to select any one as the most pleasing or original, and such I have found to be the
case. I have, therefore, chosen, as deserving of publication, two notations of the tune, pro-
cured from different provinces of Ireland, which embody the most striking differences the
melody assumes, — leaving it to the reader to determine their relative merits. The first of
these settings may be regarded as the Munster version of the air, as it was noted from the
singing of the Clare peasant, Teige Mac Mahon, and corroborated by that of Mr. Curry.
The setting which follows may be regarded as the Connaught form of the air. It was
set in that province by a talented musician, the late Mr. William Ford, of Cork, during a tour —
made for the purpose of collecting Irish melodies — in the western counties, in the years
1846-7, and has been kindly communicated to me by my valued friend, Mr. John E. Pigot.
56
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
In connexion with the preceding air, I have yet a remark to offer relative to the pecu-
liarity of its construction. This peculiarity — which it shares with a class of airs which may
be considered as exceptional in their form, and of which this air is a good example — consists
in the odd number of its sections, namely five ; while, in the great mass of our tunes, the
number is an even one, or, as usual, four : and I may add that such tunes are usually in
common time, or that compound form of it having a six-eight measure. The cause of this
peculiarity of structure will be at once obvious, namely, the necessity for a fifth section in
airs composed for stanzas having a repetition of their fourth line, or a fifth added as a burden.
Since the preceding notice was placed in the printer's hands, I have accidentally disco-
vered another Irish song, or rather fragment of one, which had been obviously written to
this air, and which, though modern, I have much pleasure in adding to the other fragment
already given, as exhibiting one of the better and abiding traits of the Irish peasant nature,
in strong contrast to those partially acquired and temporary ones which had been superin-
duced by untoward circumstances, happily not likely again to occur. I found it in an in-
teresting little volume, entitled "Irish Popular Songs, with English Metrical Translations,"
&c., " by [the late] Edward Walsh, Dublin : James McGlashan. 1847." I give his own
metrical version of the song, which very well preserves the rhythm of the original.
Gip maioin a nae poim gpéin 50 moc,
Do beapcap an béic ba niauiiba cpuc;
Sneacca agup caop bi 05 caipmipc 'na pgéitft
'S a peanja-copp péim map géip aip ppuc;
'S a cuiplemo cpoibe! cpéat> fn gpuaim pin opc?
bub bmne 5UÉ caom a béil le pule
nd Oppeup Do léij 50 paon na coipe; —
ÓÍ a pamap-pops péib map epiopcal na mbpaon
Gip peamaip-glaip péip poirii gpéin 50 moc;
'S a cuiple mo cpoibe! cpéaoí an gpuaim pin opc?
Before the sun rose at y ester-dawn,
I met a fair maid adown the lawn;
The berry and snow to her cheek gave its glow,
And her bosom was fair as the sailing swan —
Then, pulse of my heart ! what gloom is thine ?
Her beautiful voice more hearts hath won
Than Orpheus' lyre of old had done ;
Her ripe eyes of blue were crystals of dew,
On the grass of the lawn before the sun —
And, pidse of my heart ! what gloom is thine ?
SU15 ciNNSo a múiRNÍN lanh liom.
lit Ijrrr, <D y&mm, nrar inr.
The following air is an example of a large class of old Irish melodies which, having but one
strain, have not hitherto been deemed by collectors as worthy of notice. They are, how-
ever, the only airs suited to the ancient Irish short ballad quatrain ; and although, when in
triple time, they usually present but four phrases in so many bars or measures, yet they
often exhibit the characteristics of Irish melody quite as much as airs of greater length and
variety. This tune was noted from the singing of Teige MacMahon — but the words are
unfit for publication. The air should be repeated with greater force as a chorus.
Allegro. y>
_L_
dim.
r
. * i f * r
r r "Li
arcs. — -
— .. • ^""^ • — v
dim.
1 ^ J ^
r —
• — k-
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
57
Innie nuknnran.
For the following beautiful air I have to express my very grateful acknowledgment to Miss
J. Ross, of N.-T.-Limavady, in the county of Londonderry — a lady who has made a large
collection of the popular unpublished melodies of that county, which she has very kindly
placed at my disposal, and which has added very considerably to the stock of tunes which I
had previously acquired from that still very Irish county. I say still very Irish ; for though
it has been planted for more than two centuries by English and Scottish settlers, the old
Irish race still forms the great majority of its peasant inhabitants ; and there are few, if any,
counties in which, with less foreign admixture, the ancient melodies of the country have
been so extensively preserved. The name of the tune unfortunately was not ascertained
by Miss Ross, who sent it to me with the simple remark that it was " very old," in the cor-
rectness of which statement I have no hesitation in expressing my perfect concurrence.
P = Pend. 24 inches. s~ a —
IPS
i 1 cres. dim.\ cres.
Andante.
mm
33
m
w
cres.
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EE
- ~ ~- - cres. -; " dim.
5
m
E
58
«
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
loc ailliMMe.
Inngji ailrn.
The following air — which is one of the class known by the name of reel — has been a very
popular dance-tune in the county of Leitrim, in which, as may be inferred from its name,
it most probably had its origin ; and it was obtained, with other dance-tunes, from an itine-
rant fiddler of that county.
r
= Pend. 15 inches.
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The reel-tune, as the national dance-music of Scotland, must be so familiar to the reader
that any description of it may, perhaps, be deemed unnecessary ; the features of the tune in
Ireland being identical with those of the sister country. In both, the reel is a tune in com-
mon time, consisting of two parts, of eight bars each, or — to speak more accurately — of four
bars, which are twice played, but, usually, with some change in the melody on the repeti-
tion, in the second part, of the two concluding measures: and in the reel of both countries,
the bars usually present the same uniform succession of eight quavers — or semiquavers, if
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
written in two-four measure — in each bar throughout the tune. There is, however, as it ap-
pears to me, this difference between the reel-tunes of Scotland and of Ireland, that while
the former are, perhaps, more marked by a sunshine of mirthfulness, the latter have usually
more melody and expression of sentiment. I may further state, that the Scottish variety
of the reel, known by the name of Strathspey, the distinguishing peculiarity of which is the
succession of long and short, or short and long notes, or, as it has been termed by Dr. Bur-
ney, " the check" — a peculiarity which, as I have been informed by intelligent Scottish gen-
tlemen, was introduced into the Highlands by Gipsy fiddlers, and which has, unfortu-
nately, as I conceive, been very generally extended to the lowland song-tunes — has not as
yet found acceptance in Ireland; and I trust that our melodies may never be subjected to
its corrupting influence. Further, it may be worthy of remark, that the reel, though now,
and for a long time, regarded as the national dance of Scotland proper, was anciently known
only to the Irish, and Hiberno-Scotic, or Highland people, and that it does not appear to
have ever been common to, or adopted by, the Anglo-Saxon people of England, or the Cim-
bric people of Wales.
The reel, as danced in Scotland, is, as might be expected, essentially the same as it is
danced in Ireland, and a very curious account of the former will be found in the Introduc-
tion prefixed to Wood's "Dance Music of Scotland." There are, however, as it would
appear, some distinguishing features in the reel-dance of Ireland, or at least in that of the
Munster peasantry ; and to those who take an interest in the history of the ancient customs
and pastimes of the Scoto-Celtic race, the following remarks by Mr. Joyce on the reel, as
danced by the peasantry of the counties of Limerick and Cork, will not appear to be wanting
in value.
" The reel-dance is of several kinds, of which the most in use are, the eight-hand reel,
and the common reel.
" The manner of dancing the common reel bears some resemblance to that of the jig,
but in several respects they differ. In the jig the dancers remain stationary, and dance
part after part consecutively without ceasing, — occasionally moving round the room for
relaxation ; but, in the reel, they dance only every alternate part, — moving round the room
while the other parts are played. Thus, the first eight bars are danced, — the movement
round the room, or promenade, occupies the next eight ; and as this alternate succession
continues usually to the end of the dance, the reel is, therefore, much less fatiguing than
the jig. As in the latter also, the reel is ' halved,' and in a similar manner; and, as usual,
the most difficult and fatiguing portion of the dance follows.
" The reel promenade is performed in this way : The dancer first steps forward with the
right foot — the left immediately follows, but is not placed beyond the right, and the body
leans on it for an instant, while the right foot is raised one or two inches off the floor, and
let fall again with a slight sound, taking the weight of the body, and leaving the left free
to be moved forward as the right was moved in the beginning. Thus the dancer steps for-
ward with each foot alternately, and each step occupies half a bar, or four quavers. This
movement is sometimes continued all round the room, and at other times is varied, in the
middle of the promenade, with other movements.
"I may also observe that, in the reel, as well as in the different kinds of jig, the dance
is not commenced immediately ; there is always a preliminary movement that occupies one
part of tke tune, — sometimes two. The partners on first coming out stand side by side —
60
4
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
the woman to the left of the man — and generally allow the first part of the tune to be
played without moving. They then, hand in hand, move, first forward and then back-
wards, keeping strict time to the tune, and lastly separate to their respective places to
commence the dance. The whole is concluded by a similar movement.
"'Battering,' as applied to a reel, is called 'triple battering,' or more commonly 'thrib-
bling.' It differs, however, from the battering of the jig ; the floor being struck four times,
corresponding with the four quavers forming half a bar of common time, instead of three, as
in the jig, — once by the foot on which the body leans, and three times by the foot thrown
forward : and it is from this latter circumstance it derives its name.
" ' Drumming,' too, is employed in the reel, and is generally sounded in triplets, i. e.,
there are three strokes to correspond with two quavers. The dance of a common reel is
always commenced with ' the side step,' in which the dancers move lightly on tiptoe from
left to right, and from right to left, alternately, during the first two or three parts of the
tune.
" The eight-hand reel is, as its name indicates, danced by eight persons, — four men and
four women. They first stand in a circle round the room, and then go through a regular
series of complicated evolutions, somewhat like the figures of quadrilles, but much more
animated, as all are continually in motion. In these movements there are regularly recur-
ring pauses, during which the women stand still, while the men exercise themselves to
their hearts' content in ' thribbling,' taking particular care, daring these intervals, however
short, never to allow a single bar or note of the music to go waste."
In connexion with the preceding notice, the following remarks by Mr. Joyce, thougli
not strictly in accordance with the object of this work, so truly illustrate one of the inte-
resting characteristics of the Irish race, that I cannot willingly deny myself the pleasure of
subjoining them.
" It is an object with the musician to procure the recurrence of the eight-hand reel as
frequently as possible; for the men who dance it always pay him. After it is concluded,
and a minute or two allowed for rest, four of the dancers — of whom two are women — stand
up and dance a common reel, a jig, or a hop-jig, according to the choice of ' the girls.'
These are followed by the other four. On first standing out after the eight-hand reel —
which passes off without any immediate payment, this being reserved for the dance suc-
ceeding— each man puts a piece of money into the hands of his partner, who hands it to
the musician. This payment varies from a penny up to a shilling, but seldom goes above
two pence ; as the same person may have to pay several times during the same evening.
The payment, however, of a shilling, or any large sum in the commencement, exempts the
person from further charge. Among the poorer class of peasantry, each man pays one
penny — seldom more — every time he dances a reel. The woman frequently increases the
offering by an addition of her own ; but this is an act of generosity from which, if she
please, she may always exempt herself.
" The men of the Irish peasantry have a peculiar respect for the delicacy and modesty
of the other sex ; and their mode of paying the musician at a dance illustrates this feature
of their character. The woman, after receiving the money from her partner, places it in
the musician's hand, generally unseen by the company, so that they remain in ignorance as
to whether she has increased it or not. The men may pay if they choose at any parti-
cular dance, but they must, in general, pay after every eight-hand reel, at the risk of being
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
61
considered shamelessly penurious, — unless in the case of a person paying a large sum in the
commencement, or paying very frequently. And I may in this place remark that the pay-
ments are all voluntary.
" The dance of the women is generally of a lighter and less fatiguing kind than that of
the men : they seldom use battering, drumming, grinding, or any other of those heavier
operations performed by the men. In this respect, however, there is a great difference be-
tween the usage in the counties of Limerick and Cork, — as far at least as I have been able to
observe. In Cork, the women endeavour to emulate the men in all the various and difficult
movements, with few exceptions ; while in Limerick, this, for a woman, is considered unbe-
coming. I have seen them dance repeatedly in both counties, and were I to pronounce
judgment, I should feel inclined to coincide with the opinion of the Limerick folk. My
knowledge in this matter is, however, confined to a very limited extent of locality."
ilign Uir.
The air which follows is another of the tunes which I noted at Rathcarrick House, near
Sligo, in 1837, from the sweet singing of Biddy Monahan, a peasant woman of that county,
of whom I have already spoken at page 7. Of the words sung to it — an Irish love song —
I neglected to make a record ; and, having forgotten the name by which, as she told me, the
melody was known in her native county, I have never since been able to ascertain it.
r
= Pend. 18 inches.
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62
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
lop Sig.
For the following dance-tune I have, unfortunately, no name. I found it as I give it, in a
valuable manuscript collection of the dance-tunes popular in Ireland about a century back,
and of which I made mention in a preceding notice. It is a pleasing specimen of the class
of Irish jigs, in triple, or nine-eight time, known in Munster by the name of " hop jig," and
also " slip time ;" and, as I have already remarked, I consider such class of tunes as very
peculiar to Ireland. I may further observe, that in such jigs we often find, instead of trip-
lets, a succession of long and short, or crotchet and quaver, notes throughout the parts, — a
peculiarity of structure which is also often found in the jigs in common, or six-eight, mea-
sure, which are known by the name of " single jigs."
* • = Pend. 10 inc,
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In reference to the kind of dance adapted to this description of jig, Mr. Joyce writes as
follows : —
" The dance of the hop jig is the most pleasing, airy, and graceful of all the Munster
dances that have come under my observation. It is generally danced by four persons — of
whom two are females — but the number is not limited. As in the reel, only the alternate
parts of the tune are danced ; during the other parts the dancers move round the room. In
the reel, however, this movement is little more than a mere walk, though performed in a
systematic way ; but in the hop jig the dancers skip lightly round, keeping perfect time
with the music — which is played very quickly — and arrive in their respective places in time
to commence the 1 step' to the next part of the tune.
" The ' steps' of a hop jig are quite unlike those of any other dance, — they all consist of
light and graceful skipping, — most exciting, and not at all so fatiguing as the steps of a reel
or a double jig. In general the floor is struck, or rather, tipped lightly, three times during
every bar of the tune ; and from this description, the appropriateness of the names ' hop jig,'
and ' slip time,' will be at once apparent. Occasionally, however, the heavier steps of the
double jig dance are applied to this also ; but from the greater quickness with which it is
necessary to perform them, the exercise is excessively fatiguing."
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
(i3
%km i\)t £mW out.
I have been unable to ascertain the original, or any other old Irish name, to the following
air, though Mr. Curry acquaints me that, in his youth, he had heard more than one Irish
song sung to it, but which he has now forgotten. I have therefore been obliged to apply to
it the name of a very objectionable street ballad to which it was unhappily united, and
which appears to have had a very extensive popularity in the Munster counties during the
latter half of the last century, and is still not wholly forgotten. The only notation, how-
ever, which I have procured of the tune is that here given, which was set about forty years
ago from a near connexion of my own, to whom I have already more than once alluded,
and who had learned it long before from the poor woman named Betty Skillin.
= Pend. 13 inches.
Andante.
cres.
r T
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3'U Ire o gnnii $ni(, nni ito sn nn nnrrr.
The following air, with many others of equal beauty, was noted down about forty years
ago from the singing of the late Mr. Joseph Hughes, of the Bank of Ireland, of whom 1
have already made mention in a preceding notice ; and it was learned by him in his boy-
hood in his native county of Cavan, where it was sung to an English street ballad named as
*
64
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
above. I have no reason, however, to assume that the melody was peculiar to that or any
other of the northern counties ; for Mr. Curry acquaints me that he has often heard it sung
in the counties of Clare and Limerick, to the same English song, — of which I have in vain
endeavoured to procure a copy.
• = Pend. 24 inches.
m
i
r
IS ff r *
t
Andante,
cres.
f
r
á
r f í % r r
"ft?. — . ;v _
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tr r\
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din
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Cutter tjjt ftnnii.
The dance-tune which follows will serve as an example of that species of jig-tune, known,
at least in Minister, by the term " single jig." Like the common or double jig, it is a tunc
in six-eight time, and having eight bars, or measures, in each of its two parts. But it differs
from the former in this, that the bars do not generally present, as in the double jig, a suc-
cession of triplets, but rather of alternate long and short, or crotchet and quaver notes.
"The dance to this kind of jig-tune," Mr. Joyce writes, "is very like that to the double
jig, but so modified as to suit four instead of six notes in each bar. Thus in ' grinding,' the
floor is struck only four times to the bar, instead of six times, as in the ' double.'
" ' Battering,' as applied to this variety of jig, is called ' single battering.' The floor is
struck only twice, — once by the foot on which the body leans, and once by the foot thrown
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
65
forward. And it is from the latter circumstance that the term 'single' has been applied
to this kind of battering, and has thence been extended to designate the jig itself."
I found this tune in the old MS. volume of dance music of which I have already more
than once spoken.
• = Pend. 10 inches.
(< > s I p 4 *
• • •
Allegro, mf
m
P1^
mf
3
it
hi
f
r
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jStm» traltBnmn.
In a collection of national melodies which has been gathered together from so many sources,
and in so many different ways, it will hardly be cause for surprise that, in numerous in-
stances, I should have acquired tunes respecting the history or proper locality of which I
could learn nothing, — and that I should often be unable even to ascertain the names bv
which they had been known. On the contrary, it should, perhaps, be considered rather a
matter of wonder that, in connexion with such accidentally discovered vestiges of an ancient
and peculiar race of people, whose characteristic traits have been so long subjected to all
sorts of changing influences, we should still find remaining so much of a traditional-)- lore,
having a tendency to diminish the darkness in which their origin was enveloped, and adding
to the evidences which their own features, however altered by time, still exhibit, to indicate
with certainty the locality, at least, to which they had indubitably belonged. With this
latter evidence only, the reader must, therefore, at least for the present, be, in many in-
stances, satisfied : and it may be hoped that the awakened interest which the exhibition of
66 ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
such remains may excite in minds possessed of unappreciated traditionary knowledge con-
nected with them, may lead, hereafter, to our acquirement of much matter with which they
may be illustrated.
That the following spirited air should be one of those as yet unidentified melodies to
which I have above alluded, is a fact which I state with regret, though its own characteris-
tics will leave no doubt as to its Irish origin. It is one of the many fine tunes which, as I
have already stated, were sent to me by Mr. James Fogarty, late a farmer at Tibroghney,
in the county of Kilkenny. He states that the words which he had heard sung to it were a
martial, or festive song, but that he believes they are now irrecoverably lost. The second
part of the air was sung in chorus, accompanied by the beating of the singers' feet, — a mode
of giving effect to such movements, which some, at least, of my readers may remember to
have been common amongst " the gods," at the Dublin Theatre, during the singing by Jack
J ohnstone of many of his exciting songs.
cá rcaóáis onois a cailiN 515. wfym IjnnB 1pm kru, mt( littl* (Girl?
The very spirited and characteristic air which follows was given to me by Mr. P. J oyce,
who learnt it in his native county of Limerick, where it is still a popular favourite. It is
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
now usually sung to an Irish song, supposed — but erroneously, as Mr. Curry believes — to
have been written for it by the clever, but licentious Limerick poet of the middle of the last
century, named Andrew Magrath, or, as he is better known, by the cognomen derived from
his calling, the Mangaire Sugach, or Jolly Merchant or Pedlar. As a whole, this song is
unfit for publication, but its first stanza may be given as an example of the rhythmical
construction suited to the melody.
Ca pabaip anoip a cailin big?
Q oíibaipc ma macaip liompa:
'biop amuic 'pan"01Dce 'pioc»
Q paippe ma paeO bea^ abpuip.
Sing Tow-row-row, &c.
Pend. 7 inches.
Where have you been, my little girl ?
My mother of me questioned :
I was abroad this freezing night,
Watching my bit of spinning.
Sing Tow-row-row, &c.
«4^ —
Allegro con
spirito.
h-^ — 1
T 1 ' 1 1
rf-'— •—
Chorus.
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oéaupao ocmr $T*áó seal, ucc sjacáiN $laN.— 3'U mút mq Ito it SGrrnst nf tfloB.
The following is another, and, as I consider, a very beautiful example of that peculiarly
Irish class of tunes on the construction of which I have already made some remarks at
pp. 45 and 46, in connexion with the air entitled Cailin Ban, or " The Fair Girl." It is one
of the many airs which, as I have stated in p. 40, 1 noted down from the singing of the old
68 ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
lady there alluded to, and which had been learnt by her, in her youth, from the poor woman
Betty Skillin, of whom, also, some notice is given in the same place. The English words
sung to it were those of a street ballad of the early part of the last century, and probably —
as the poetical thought in the first line would indicate — was a translation of an older Irish
song ; but neither I, nor the lady from whom I obtained the tune, can now remember more
than that first line, which I have used as a name for the melody.
0
irnrrljing is tijis tm.
In connexion with the following air, I have only to observe, that it is one of the many ori-
ginal melodies obtained from the wild, but beautiful shore of " the kingdom of Kerry,"
through the kindness of the Rev. Father Walsh, of Iveragh, and that I have reason to be-
lieve it a tune peculiar to that still very Irish district. The name given to it — which is a
translated one from the original Irish — indicates the character of the love-song to which it
had been applied as an exponent. Like most of our finer airs, however, it is probable that
this tune may have been known by various names derived from different songs adapted to
it ; and in the extensive collection of such airs formed by Mr. John E. Pigot, I find one
named Ctp maic an ouine rú, or, " You are a good man," which was obtained from the
county of Cork, and which appears to be but a different version of this melody.
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
60
j>#J fjj 1
1 |
j—1
1 r'tg
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Wtyn slj? nnstmrrii na Ijrr 2Jnir? tuns Inm.
"With regard to the following air, I have only to remark that it was obtained about forty
years ago from the late Mr. J. Hughes, who had learnt it in the county of Cavan.
0 = Pend. 14 inches. S~ ~N 1 |^
LJ—iJ-J cres. - - - -
• • •
ÍE
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m
3:
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70
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
Jto nnknnmn.
I kegket that I have been unable to ascertain the name of the very original and pleasing
air which follows. It is one of the many fine tunes sent to me by Mr. James Fogarty, late
of Tibroghney, in the county of Kilkenny, by whom it was learnt in his childhood, from
the singing of his uncle and other old persons, in that place. The song sung to it was an
Irish one, and, as he supposed, of a warlike or military character, — but he had lost aii re-
membrance of it, and there were no persons remaining in the locality from whom it could
be obtained.
The following jig-tune was sent to me by Mr. James Fogarty, late of Tibroghney, in the
county of Kilkenny, as a very ancient air, and a much admired one in that and the neigh-
bouring counties. It is a good example of the class of dance-tunes termed " single jigs," and
which are characterized by a pendulum or swinging movement : and it appears to be the more
ancient or original form of the double-jig tune now so well known by the name of " The
Washerwoman," and which, under that appellation, has been for at least a century a very
popular dance-tune in Ireland. I regret to add, that I have not been able to ascertain the
name of this older form of the tune.
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ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
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ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
b'puiRis cú cncNe na paca cu tcoisi 'rciaiN — '€b mi\r\ famn tlmt qira umx sum Unsif.
The following air — which I consider a very characteristic and ancient one — was first noted
down about thirty years ago under circumstances which, at the time, made a deep impres-
sion upon me. A gray-headed old man of most respectable appearance, with an interesting
ohild, his grand-daughter, were, on a wet day, singing it to obtain charity, while slowly
passing along the centre of one of the streets at the north side of Dublin ; and such was the
power of their chanting — coupled, no doubt, with the interest which their appearance cre-
ated in their favour — that, notwithstanding the unfavourable state of the weather, they were
followed silently by a large crowd, who expressed their commiseration, as well as their
gratitude for the pleasure given them, by an unusual outpouring of liberality. These
strange singers were, as I ascertained, from the north of Ireland, and, as I subsequently
found, their touching melody was a well-known one in the counties of Derry and Tyrone,
if not, as probable, in the northern counties generally, for I find a version of it — very cor-
rupt indeed — called "Cavan O'Reilly," amongst the tunes collected by the late William
Forde, and now in the possession of my friend Mr. J. E. Pigot. The setting of the air
here given is, as I believe, a very correct one, for it has been verified by several others
variously acquired, and particularly by one, obtained in 1837 from Paul M'Closkey of the
Bennada Glens, in the county of Derry, in which romantic, and very Irish, district it was
then sung to an old Irish love-song, from the first line of which I have derived the name above
given to it. As this melody does not appear to be known in the Minister counties, it may,
perhaps, be fairly considered as one of an Ulster, if not, as possible, a Connaught origin.
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
73
seo hu Leo.
2n Srislj Tnllnlii}.
The following melody, together with the Irish song which accompanies it, were recently taken
down from the singing of Mary Madden, a poor blind peasant woman from Limerick, now
resident in Dublin ; and both tune and words appear to me to possess a high degree of in-
terest ; — the tune, as a beautiful, and, as I believe, a very ancient example of that one of
the three classes of music said to have been introduced into Ireland by that heroic or my-
thological race called the Tuatha de Dananns, namely, the Suantraidhe, or sleep-disposing
music ; — and the fairy legend embodied in the words, as preserving to us a valuable illustra-
tion of the nature of the superstitions connected with the same mysterious race, and which,
despite of every counteracting influence, have so long retained their hold on the belief of
the people. Further, with reference to this air, I would observe that its strong affinity
to the lullaby tunes of Hindostan and Persia will scarcely fail to strike the investigators of
national melody ; and connected as it thus is with a fairy legend, this affinity must be re-
garded with interest by those who trace such superstitions to an Eastern origin.
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ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
1.
a bean tft> ciop ap bpuac an c-ppocdin,
Seó hú leó, peó htí leó,
Qn o-cuiseann cupa pác mo géapáin,
Seó hú leó, peó hú leó,
'Sgup bliaóain'pa ld 'mu 'puabaisméoom' geappdn,
Seó hú leó, peó hú leó,
'Sba pujab apceac mé a Liop an Cnocdin,
Seó hú leó, peó hú led.
Seó hín, peó hín, peó hín, peó hín,
Seó hú leó, peó hú leó,
8eó htn, peó hín, peó hín, peó hín,
Seó hú leó, peó hú leó.
2.
'Seo é annpo mo cea§ móp maipeaó,
Seó hú leó, peó hú leó,
Op íomóa leann úp asup leann pean ann,
Seó hú leó, peó hú leó,
Qp lomóa mil buíbe ajup céip beac ann,
Seó htá leó, peó hú led,
Qp íomóa pean buine ap a napj ann,
Seó hú leó, peó hú led,
Seó hín, peó hfn, peó hín, &c.
3.
dp lomóa buacaill cíl-bonn cap ann,
Seó hú leó, peó hú leó,
Qp íoniba cailín cúl-buióe beap ann,
8eó liú leó, peó htj leó,
'Cá bd bean béag 05 íomcap mac ann,
Seó hú leó, peó hú leó,
'Cá an oipeab eile pe na n-aip ann,
Seó hú leó, peó hú leó,
Seó hín, peó hín, peó hín, &c.
4.
Qbaip lém' céile ceacc a mdpaó,
Seó hú leó, peó hú leó,
'San coinneall ciapac a 5-cpoióe a bedpnann,
Seó hú leó, peó hú leó,
Scian coipe buibe 'cabaipc na Idirh leip,
Seó htí leó, peó hú leó,
'San capall copaij t»o bualab 'pan m-bedpnain,
Seó hú leó, peó hd leó,
Seó hín, peó hfn, peó hín, &c.
5.
On luib a buain 'cd a n-bopup an leapa,
Seó hú leó, peó hú leó,
TTlap púil pe Oia 50 pagainn leip a baile,
Seó hú leó, peó hú leó,
No map a a-ciji pé pd'n qidc pin,
Seó hú leó, peó hó leó,
'5o m-biabpa am bampíogain ap na mnd po,
Seó hú leó, peó hú led,
Seó hín, peó hín, peó hín, &c
1.
O woman below on the brink of the stream,
Sho hoo lo, sho hoo lo,
Do you understand the cause of my wailing ?
Sho hoo lo, sho hoo lo,
A year and this day I was whipt off my palfrey,
Sho hoo lo, sho hoo lo,
And was carried into Lios-an-Chnocain,
Sho hoo lo, sho hoo lo,
Sho-heen, sho-heen, sho-heen, sho-heen,
Sho hoo lo, sho hoo lo,
Sho-heen, sho-heen, sho-heen, sho-heen,
Sho hoo lo, sho hoo lo.
2.
Here is here my beautiful great-house,
Sho hoo lo, sho hoo lo,
Abundant is new ale there and old ale,
Sho hoo lo, sho hoo lo,
Abundant is yellow honey and bees' wax there,
Sho hoo lo, sho hoo lo,
Many is the old man tightly bound there,
Sho hoo lo, sho hoo lo,
Sho-heen, sho-heen, sho-heen, &c.
3.
Many is the curling brown-haired boy there,
Sho hoo lo, sho hoo lo,
Many is the yellow-haired comely girl there,
Sho hoo lo, sho hoo lo.
There are twelve women bearing sons there,
Sho hoo lo, sho hoo lo,
And as many more are there besides them,
Sho hoo lo, sho hoo lo,
Sho-heen, sho-heen, sho-heen, &c.
4.
Say to my husband to come to-morrow,
Sho hoo lo, sho hoo lo,
With the wax candle in the centre of his palm,
Sho hoo lo, sho hoo lo,
And in his hand bring a black-hafted knife,
Sho hoo lo, sho hoo lo,
And beat the first horse out of the gap,
Sho hoo lo, sho hoo lo,
Sho-heen, sho-heen, sho-heen, &c.
5.
To pluck the herb that's in the door of the fort,
Sho hoo lo, sho hoo lo,
With trust in God that I would go home with him,
Sho hoo lo, sho hoo lo,
Or if he does not come within that time,
Sho hoo lo, sho hoo lo,
That I will be queen over all these women,
Sho hoo lo, sho hoo lo,
Sho-heen, sho-heen, sho-heen, &c.
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
75
As a somewhat necessary illustration of the still existing superstitions detailed in the
preceding legendary ballad, I have been favoured by Mr. Curry with a commentary, which,
as coming from one who from his childhood had the amplest opportunities of becoming ac-
quainted with those superstitions, and the extent to which they were believed in, must be
regarded as of great value. And although the subject may be considered as not strictly in
accordance with the primary purpose of this work, I trust that few of my readers will object
to my securing in this place remarks of so much interest, — and more particularly as they
tend to prove not only the antiquity of the poem, but the probably still greater antiquity
of the hushaby melody to which the poem had been adapted.
I give Mr. Curry's observations in his own words : —
" The preceding rare and remarkable poem contains, I am bold to say, more of authentic
fairy fact and doctrine than, with some few exceptions, has been ever before published in
Ireland. The incident here clearly narrated was believed, at all times, to be of frequent
occurrence. It was for the last sixteen hundred years, at least, and is still, as firmly be-
lieved in as any other fact in the history of this country, that the Tuatha de Dananns, after
their overthrow by the Milesians, had gone to reside in their hills and ancient forts, or in
their dwellings in lakes and rivers — that they were in possession of a mortal immortality —
and that they had the power to carry off from this visible world men and women in a living
state, but sometimes under the semblance of death. The persons taken off were generally
beautiful infants, wanted for those in the hills who had no children, fine young women,
before marriage, and often on the day of marriage, for the young men of the hills who had
been invisibly feasting on their growing beauties — perhaps from childhood ; — young men
in the same way for the languishing damsels of fairyland ; — fresh, well-looking nurses for
their nurseries. The usual mode of abduction was by throwing the object into a sudden
fit or trance, and substituting in its place an old man or woman, or sickly child, as the case
might require ; but apparently there was no exchange. At other times the object died to
all appearance, and was buried in the usual way ; but people generally guessed whether it
was a real death or not. In other cases the person was whipt off the brink of a river, lake,
or the sea, by a gust of wind, and apparently drowned and lost, but had only been taken
down to some noble mansion and plain, over which the water was but a transparent atmo-
sphere.
" They had also the power of inflicting corporal punishment and prostration of energy
of body and mind on the mortal objects of their hatred or jealousy ; and this was generally
done by fairy women to remarkable men whom they had not been able to carry off.
" The poem tells its own story fully and clearly. The allusions to the luxuries of the
fairy mansion carry it back to a period anterior to the general use of the more modern in-
ventions of wine and whiskey, &c. Now whiskey, or Uisge Beatha, is known to have been
commonly used in Ireland for three hundred years ; and if it had been an ordinary luxury
at the time of writing this poem, there can be no doubt that it would be included in the
list of good things of fairydom.
"It may be further observed, that the poem is not written in the language of the poets
of the sixteenth or seventeenth centuries, and that there is not one corrupt word or A)igli-
cism in it, defects from which very few Irish poems of the last two hundred years are free.
The abducted person in this poem seems to have been a married woman, and a nurse. She
also appears to have been snatched off her horse, probably under the semblance of a fall and
76
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
death ; and that her rank was respectable is shown by her having ridden her own palfrey.
She sees from within Lios-a-Chnocain, or the Fort of the Hillock, a woman, probably
a neighbour, standing on the brink of a stream which passes by the fort, and in the
intervals of her Seo hu leo, or hushaby, for her new nurseling, she contrives to convey to
the listener her wishes line after line to the end of each stanza, and then, in order to gain
time for further thought, and see if she was still unobserved within, she finishes with a more
prolonged and endearing Seo hu leo, addressed to her infant.
" The old men tied in fetters, in the second stanza, are men who had been formerly
carried off in the prime of life, but were kept to be substituted for other young men when
carried off from their young wives or friends.
" The bit of wax candle which her husband was to carry securely in the palm of his
hand was — in more modern times — a candle blessed on Candlemas-day, and with which no
house in Ireland was unprovided. The black-hafted knife was the only formidable mortal
weapon in fairy warfare — a single thrust or stab from it was fatal ; but a second rendered
the first one harmless. As an illustration of this belief, I may mention that there is an old
fort on the brink of the little ford of Bel-Atha, between Kilkee and Dunbeg, on the wes-
tern coast of the county of Clare, where some years ago a large stone still remained on the
northern side of the ford, which for ages had been looked upon with awe and reverence by
the people of all that country, as the seat of Cailleach Bheil Atha, or the Hag of Belatha,
although the hag herself had disappeared many score years before. Her custom was to
take her seat on this stone after nightfall, and to watch the men who crossed the ford, and
when she found a man to her taste to jump on him, clasp him in her arms, and whip him
into the fort ; so that few wished to pass the spot at a late hour. It happened that a gen-
tleman of the powerful Mac Mahon family of Carrigaholt Castle, on the Lower Shannon,
was riding home late one night from the northern parts of the country, and, impelled by
urgent business, or by a spirit of daring, he rode up rapidly to the ford, saw the hag,
and thought by the fleetness of his steed to spring past her ; but, just as he entered the ford,
the hag sprang up behind him on the horse, and clasped him around in her arms. He
pulled out of his left-hand waistcoat pocket, with his right hand, his black-hafted knife, and
plunged it into her left side behind him. Uajipain^ ip ponj ápip — 'Draw and plunge
again,' said the hag. Mac Mahon, however, neither answered nor drew his knife, but rode
on, and immediately the hag fell off the horse and disappeared. Mac Mahon rode to the
nearest house, told his story, and remained there for the rest of the night, and at daylight
next morning returned with several persons of the neighbourhood to the ford, where
they found the black-hafted knife stuck in a small lump of jelly, resembling what the pea-
santry call a fallen star. There is a small cave in the inside of the wall, or mound of the
ford, which is believed to have been the hag's prison. I was in it, but not as a prisoner, in
the year 1820. The hag never appeared since, and her request to Mac Mahon remains, I
believe, still a common saying in that country — Uappain^ íp páij apip map a oubaipc
Cailleac bhéal-Qca — ' Draw and thrust again, as the Hag of Bel-Atha said.'
" The use of the black-hafted knife in our poem appears to have been to strike the lead-
ing horse of the woman's fairy chariot when going out through the gap or door of the fort
the next day, by which the magic veil which concealed her would be destroyed ; and the
possession of the herb which grew at the door of the fort was to guard her from all future
attempts at her recapture. Her urgent request for an immediate release was in accordance
I
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND. 77
with the belief that fairy captives are redeemable within a year and a day, but after that
they are lost for ever.
41 The belief in fairy influence, and in the ordinary means of counteracting it by the
agency of herb-men and herb-women, was not confined to the votaries of one form of Chris-
tianity. I remember when Father Matthew Molony, parish priest of Moyarta and Kilbal-
lyowen, was drowned in crossing on horseback at Bealbunadh, the inlet of Oystercove, or
Skeagh, on the lower Shannon, Clare side, about three miles below Kilrush, his mother, and
his brothers, who were sensible and ic ell-informed men, continued not only for a year and a
day, but for seven years, to put in action all the available anti-fairy force of the whole pro-
vince of Munster for his recovery, and this with a confidence that was sickening to my father
and mother, who were the only people I ever knew in that country who were total unbelievers
in such doctrines. It is hardly necessary to say that poor Father Molony never came back.
About the same time (say 1812), Mr. William O'Donnell, a very fine, popular man, and a
black Protestant, was drowned in the same place. I was, as a boy, at his funeral at the old
church of Kilferagh, and I do not believe that there was among the hundreds of Protestants
and Catholics that followed him, with deep sorrow, to the grave, one person, excepting the
Rev. Irvine Whitly, his parish minister, my father, and myself and brothers, who did not be-
lieve he was carried off by the fairies, and entertain hopes of his recovery. The identical
means used by the Molonys were used by the O'Donnells, and of course had the same re-
sults ; but the belief remained.
u The popular belief in the abduction of fine healthy young women to become fairy
nurses, which is the subject of this little poem, is so well known that it scarcely requires an
illustration ; yet, as an example of the tenacity with which the Irish peasantry still cling
to this superstition, I may relate an occurrence which came within my own knowledge,
though it has been already given to the public in Mr. "Wilde's 'Popular Superstitions of
the Irish Peasantry.' I well remember that in the year 1818, Mary, the wife of Daniel
Kelly, a bouncing, full, auburn-haired, snow-white-skinned woman, about twenty-eight years
of age, died suddenly on a summer's day, while in the act of cutting cabbages in her garden.
Great was the consternation throughout the entire parish of Moyarta, in the south-west of
Clare, at this sad event, the more particularly as several persons, who were in a westerly
direction from her at the time, declared that they had seen and felt a violent gust of wind
pass by and through them in the exact direction of Kelly's house, carrying with it all the
dust and straws, &c, which came in its way. This confirmed the husband and friends of
the deceased in their impression that she had been carried off to nurse for the fairies. Im-
mediately Mary Quinn, alias ' The Pet' (Maire an Pheata), and Margaret M'Inerheny, alias
' Black Peg,' two famous fairy women in the neighbourhood, were called in, who, for three
days and three nights, kept up a constant but unavailing assault on a neighbouring fort, or
rath, for the recovery of the abducted woman. But at the end of that time it was found
that the body, or what in their belief appeared to be the body, of Mary Kelly, could not be
any longer kept over ground, wherefore it was placed in the grave, but still with a total
unbelief of its identity. Her bereaved husband and her brothers watched her grave day
and night for three weeks after ; and then they opened it, in the full conviction of finding
only a birch broom, a log of wood, or the skeleton of some deformed monster, in it. In this,
however — I need scarcely add — they were grievously mistaken ; for they found in it only
what they had placed there, but in a much more advanced state of decomposition."
x
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78
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
This very characteristic air is one of the many interesting tunes sent to me, during the last
year, by Miss Jane Ross, of Newtown-Limavady, in the county of Derry, and which were
collected by that lady in that and the adjacent counties. The melody is most probably a
northern one.
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For the following beautiful air, I have to acknowledge myself indebted to the kindness of
my valued friend Miss Holden, the youngest surviving daughter of the eminent composer
of military music, the late Mr. Smollet Holden. The melody was noted down, from the
singing of a servant girl, by Miss Holden's sister, the late Mrs. Joseph Hughes — a lady
whose virtues and varied attainments can never be forgotten by those who had the happi-
ness to enjoy her friendship.
I regret that I have been unable to ascertain the older Irish name of this fine melody,
and trust that it may hereafter be discovered. The name given above is that of an English
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
79
street ballad which had been sung to it, and which, from the number of copies of it that I
have seen, would appear to have been very popular — at least in Dublin — towards the close
of the last century ; for such copies usually bear the imprint of the great Dublin ballad-
monger, Bartle Corcoran. Like most songs of its class — though, in its ideas, less than usually
objectionable — it makes but slight pretensions to poetic merit. It assumes to be the song
of a slighted maiden, who, however, does not abandon herself to despair, as some maidens
foolishly do, but takes the matter very wisely, as shown in the concluding stanza, which, as
well as the first two, I venture to reprint.
I once lov'd a boy, and a bonny, bonny boy,
Who'd come and go at my request ;
I lov'd him so well, and so very very well,
That I built him a bower in my breast —
In my breast,
That I built him a bower in my breast.
I once lov'd a boy, and a bonny, bonny boy,
And a boy that I thought was my own;
But he loves another girl better than me,
And has taken his flight and is gone —
And is gone,
And has taken his flight and is gone.
The girl that has taken my own bonny boy,
Let her make of him all that she can,
For whether he loves me or he loves me not,
I'll walk with my love now and then —
Now and then,
I'll walk with my love now and then.
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(£nnir Uigljt, unit Sntf to mitjj tpra.
The name of the following air is common to several tunes of a similar character, and indi-
cates the purpose to which they were applied, namely, as farewell dance, or march-tunes,
played on the breaking up of festive meetings ; and I believe that this is, or, perhaps, was,
the tune commonly played on such occasions in the province of Connaught. It was noted
in the summer of 1839, from the playing of the Galway piper, Patrick Coneely, by whom
it was considered to be a pipe march-tune of the olden time. The tune commonly used on
such festive occasions, in the province of Leinster, and known by the same name, will be
given during the progress of this work.
ailott'l Jlrinrn.'
I have not been able to find any older or other name for the following air than that above
given, which is the name of a street ballad that was sung to it, and which was very popu-
lar in Dublin during the early part of the present century. The melody, though pleasing
and worthy of preservation, is not very Irish in its character ; being rather of a class which
I would term Anglo-Irish, and, in this instance, probably not very old.
5LU151R a TiiaoiR. iplasjimg nf tip Cjmni.
The following dance-tune — which is of the class known in Munster by the term hop-jig —
was given to me by Mr. James Fogarty, late of Tibroghney, in the county of Kilkenny.
It is, no doubt, a Munster tune, and, in the opinion of Mr. Fogarty, " a grand old jig."
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ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
forlorn Virgin.
This truly characteristic air — which I believe to be very ancient — was set in the summer
of 1839, from the singing of Anne Buckley, a poor woman, the wife of a tailor, who had
been born, and was then living, in that curious suburban village of Galway commonly known
as the Claddagh, or sea-shore, and which is almost wholly inhabited by fishermen and their
families. To a collector of our melodies, this poor woman — who was no less remarkable
for her intelligence and matronly beauty than for her musical perceptions and fine vocal
powers — was a rare treasure to fall in with ; for her memory was richly stored with little-
known, and, perhaps, local airs, which she sang with a rarely to be heard sweetness and
truthfulness ; and it is to the accident of my meeting with her that I owe the acquisition of
some of the best airs which it may be in my power to preserve in the present work. I add,
with regret, that I neglected to obtain the words which she sang to this air — vainly trust-
ing that I should have an opportunity of doing so on some future occasion.
maileó lénó, is ímbo Nércó. 51 Icinning-mlrrr-l £nnr.
As I have already remarked in a preceding notice — p. 26 — of the numerous classes of airs
into which the ancient music of Ireland may be divided, there are, perhaps, in an historical
point of view — as exhibiting the universal love for melody which characterized the Gaelic
race — none of a higher interest than those short and simple airs which were invented and
employed to lighten their various employments, and which, in a general way, may be de-
signated as song-tunes of occupation. From the number of melodies of this class which
even yet remains, it would appear certain that there was no sort of occupation or labour,
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
83
whether indoor or outdoor, — save such as was of too noisy a nature to allow of it, — that
the use of song was not resorted to, as a sustainer of the spirits, and a lightener of the toil.
And perhaps it is not too much to aver that such was the purpose for which that inestima-
ble gift of the Omnipotent — the sense of melody — was granted to man. Of the airs of this
class, whistled or sung by the ploughmen while labouring in the fields, I have already given
a few specimens. They are of a plaintive and solemn character, suited to the quietness and
solitariness of such an occupation. I have now to give a place to one or two airs of a
lighter and more mirthful kind — specimens of the sort of tunes usually sung by the girls
and women while engaged at their cheerful indoor occupation of spinning, &c. Of such
tunes, three very interesting specimens have been already given to the public in Mr. Bun-
ting's last published volume of " The Ancient Music of Ireland ; " and as that gentleman
has only given as his authority for those airs the name of a "Miss Murphy, Dublin, 1839,"
I am glad to have it in my power to verify his statement, and to add to its distinctness, as
to the locality from which they were derived, by now stating, from my own knowledge,
that the person so named was a young girl from the county of Mayo, then in the service of
a lady in Dublin. Mr. Bunting, who ranked these airs amongst those of the second class
in point of antiquity, states that such tunes are known in Ireland by the name of Loobeens ;
and in reference to them he writes as follows : —
" The Loobeen is a peculiar species of chaunt, having a well marked time, and a fre-
quently recurring chorus or catch-word. It is sung at merry-makings and assemblages of
the young women, when they meet at 'spinnings' or 'quiltings,' and is accompanied by ex-
temporaneous verses, of which each singer successively furnishes a line. The intervention
of the chorus after each line gives time for the preparation of the succeeding one by the next
singer, and thus the Loobeen goes round, until the chain of song is completed. Hence its
name, signifying literally 'the link tune.' Of course there is a great variety of words,
and these usually of a ludicrous character, such as might be expected from the crambo
verses of rustics. The airs themselves bear all the appearance of antiquity." — p. 98.
To the above descriptive notice I have, in a general way, nothing to object. But to
Mr. Bunting's statement that tunes of this class are known in Ireland by the name of Loo-
beens, I have to remark, that the two best Irish scholars in the country, my friends Dr.
O'Donovan and Mr. Curry, consider this statement as wholly erroneous. They state that
the word Loobeen, or, properly, Luibin, which is a diminutive of the word Lub, a loop, &c,
and figuratively, cunning, craft, &c, is only known in Ireland as signifying a handsome
woman, that is, one having fine curled or ringleted hair, or as signifying a crafty person.
And certainly no authority could be adduced for the somewhat strained figurative meaning
which Mr. Bunting has assigned to it. But the word Luibin, as applied to signify a hand-
some woman, is of common occurrence in Irish songs ; and as some particular spinning-
wheel song may, therefore, have been so called from its frequent recurrence in it, Mr.
Bunting may, possibly, have supposed the term to apply to such tunes generally. But
however this may be, it would appear certain that if the term were ever understood as a
name for spinning-wheel tunes, such use of the word must have been very local.
Tunes of this class are also, as might be expected, very common in the Scottish isles and
Highlands, where they are known by the name of Luinigs, or properly, Luinniochs, signify-
ing cheerful chorus music; and by this term also it is certain that they were anciently-
known in Ireland. And they form a very considerable portion of the Rev. Patrick
84 ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
McDonald's collection of Highland vocal airs published in 1781, and are thus spoken of in the
preface to that work : — " A considerable number of the airs contained in this first division
are what the country people call Luinigs, and are sung when a number of persons are as-
sembled either at work or for recreation. They are generally short : their measure is regu-
lar, and the cadences are distinctly marked. Many of them are chorus songs. Particular
parts of the tune are allotted to the principal singer, who expresses the significant words :
the other parts are sung in chorus by the whole company present. These pieces being simple
and airy, are easily remembered, and have probably been accurately preserved."
I must say, however, that the Highland Luinigs, as published, seem to me very inferior,
in point of melody, to those of Ireland, — very possibly from their being unskilfully noted ;
for I have myself found that the Highland airs, as sung by the people, were, generally, far
superior in beauty to any publications of them hitherto produced ; and though, very proba-
bly, in a general way, the Highland melodies may not have been so well preserved as the
Irish, I cannot but retain on my mind an impression that they have not, as yet, had full
justice done to them. But, be this as it may, the account given by Mr. McDonald of the
Highland Luinigs is equally applicable to the Irish tunes of the same class ; and, in con-
nexion with the following specimen, I am enabled, by Mr. Curry, to give an accurate exam-
ple of the manner in which the words were adapted to them. The tune itself was noted
down from the singing both of Mr. Curry and Teige MacMahon. And I should observe
that the air is also known, in Clare, by the name of Lura, Lura, no da Lura.
id. 15 inches.^ '«_* r^Z^ ^ —
pi i /.Tit T
sr
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T r
As a preface to the extemporaneous words sung to this tune in the county of Clare, Mr.
Curry writes as follows : —
"It will be seen from the discussion on the wordplanxty at p. 13 of this volume, that it
was of old, as it continues to be still, the practice of the Irish peasant girls to come together
in groups when engaged in the preparation of wool and flax for the loom, either for domes-
tic purposes or for sale. Sometimes the group consisted of the daughters of the house, and
neighbouring poorer girls, who were engaged for hire at — say in 1816 — three pence a day
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
85
each. Sometimes it was the Comhar, or reciprocal co-operation of the daughters of two or
more neighbouring families ; but, in all cases, the work — particularly wool-spinning — was
carried on with an accompaniment of singing. Sometimes the girls sang, in turn, a popular
song ; but more generally they sang, two at a time, extemporaneous verses to peculiar airs, to
none of which I ever heard songs or verses of any other kind. The following is the most
popular of some four or five specimens of those airs and verses, as sung in the county of
Clare. It will be seen that the words of the lines beginning ' Mallo lero' have no definite
signification, but are merely musical accented sounds — something like 'High diddle diddle,'
and serve simply as starting and resting points for the dialogue.
" The first girl here starts the song, as it were, out of a reverie, and as if giving unconscious
expression to a deep internal feeling — she has ' traversed the wood when day was breaking.'
What for? The cause is well understood, and interpreted by the second girl, who is quite
well acquainted with the direction of the first girl's inclinations, but designedly mentions a
name that she knows will not be accepted, for the purpose of making a line to the verse,
and sometimes of gratifying a small bit of secret spleen against the person proposed,
whom, it will be seen, she takes good care to praise as a husband worthy of the pettish girl
who rejects him. The first girl begins again, and, since the ice has been broken, requests
her companion to find for her the man she really loves, and this being always done, she ac-
cepts him, and so the verse ends with the usual prayer from the second girl for their
happy union.
"The second girl's turn comes now, and she, without any reserve, calls on the first to go
westwards and eastwards, and find her lover for her. Here a nice spring of pride and
jealousy is most delicately touched by the first girl, who proposes to her companion a man
on whom she knows her to have had some fruitless design ; and thus she brings out two
secrets as to the state of O'Flaherty's mind, or heart, which the second girl had taken pains
to be acquainted with, namely, that it was unfavourable to herself, and favourable to
Johanna O'Kelly — facts not known to any other girl present, unless J ohanna O'Kelly herself
happened to be of the number, which was often the case. So far the two secrets are out, to
the great satisfaction of all present, the second girl excepted ; but she has her revenge in
her proud rejection of the advice to contest the hand of a man whom she admits to be
worthy, but whose equal, at least, she can find in the grove of young men about her.
" And thus the song, the wit, and the fun, go on among the girls, two at a time, until
they have all played their part, to their own great pleasure, as well as to the pleasure, or
displeasure, of the group of young men who are present — generally at night work — accord-
ing as they find themselves accepted or rejected by their laughing tormentors."
TTlaileó lépó, if ím bó népó,
Siubail mé an coill le h-eipge an laé muic,
TTlaileó lápo, íp ím bó ban.
niaileó lépó, ip ím bó népó,
CIp Seaan 6 Ceapbuill a cujj cú an péim pin,
TTlaíleó lépó, ip ím bó bán.
Tílaileó lépó, íp ím bó népó,
J5ab ap a com ip e a cpeabaó na h-eipeann,
TTlaileó lépó, ip ím bó ban.
z
Mallo lero, and eembo nero,
I traversed the wood when day was breaking,
Mallo lero, and eembo bawn.
Mallo lero, and eembo nero,
For John O'Carroll you wandered so early,
Mallo lero, and eembo bawn.
Mallo lero, and eembo nero,
With gads begirt, let him plough tlirough Erinn,
Mallo lero, and eembo bawn.
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
8e
mailed lépó, ip ím bó népó,
Q coice 5an múineaó bí 00 paic Óo céile ann,
Ttlaileó lépó, íp ím bó bdn.
TTlaileó lépó, íp ím bó népó,
dp cuma liom, pdj é, pai§ mo spdó péin 6am,
TTlaileó lépó, íp ím bó bdn.
TTIaileó lép6, íp fm bó népó,
Comdp 6 TTlaoasdin 501b íp bí péi$ leip,
Ttlaileó lópó, íp ím bó bdn.
TTlculeó lepó, íp ím bó népó,
Jjabaim ip joipim íp 50 maipió mé mo céile,
TTlaileó lépó, íp ím bó bdn.
lTlaileó lépó, íp ím bó népó,
Saip na piap n'ap gabaió pib 6 ceile,
TTlaileó lépó, ip ím bó bdn.
TTIaileó lépó, íp ím bó népó,
^aib piap, jaib aniap, asup pai$ mo gpaó péin 6am,
maileó lépó, íp ím bó bdn.
TTIaileó lépo, íp ím bó népó,
Doiiinall ó pimcbeapcaig 501b ip bi péig leip,
TTlaileó lepó, íp ím bó bdn.
TTlaileó lepó, íp ím bó népó,
Sióbdn Tii Ceallai§ t>o buailpeaó pan m-bél me,
TTlaileó lépó, íp ím bó bdn.
TTlaileó lépó, íp ím bó népó,
TTlap piú an peap, é na leis lé é,
TTlaileó lépó, íp ím bó bdn.
TTIaileó lépó, ip ím bó népó,
Ní'l cpann annpa coill na pagainn a leicéibe,
TTlaileó lépó, ip ím bó bdn.
Mallo lero, and eembo nero,
You mannerless girl, he's your match for a husband,
Mallo lerc, and eembo bawn.
Mallo lero, and eembo nero,
I care not, — leave off, — get me my own love,
Mallo lero, and eembo bawn.
Mallo lero, and eembo nero,
Thomas O'Maddigan, take and be pleased with,
Mallo lero, and eembo bawn.
Mallo lero, and eembo nero,
I take and hail, and may I well wear my husband,
Mallo lero, and eembo bawn.
Mallo lero, and eembo nero,
To the east or the west may you never be parted,
Mallo lero, and eembo bawn.
Mallo lero, and eembo nero,
Go westward, go eastward, and find me my own love,
Mallo lero, and eembo bawn.
Mallo lero, and eembo nero,
Donnell O'Flaherty take and be pleased with,
Mallo lero, and eembo bawn.
Mallo lero, and eembo nero,.
It's Joan O'Kelly that would strike me in the face,
Mallo lero, and eembo bawn.
Mallo lero, and eembo nero,
If the man is worth it, don't let her take him,
Mallo lero, and eembo bawn.
Mallo lero, and eembo nero,
There is no tree in the wood that I could not find
its equal,
Mallo lero, and eembo bawn.
siM biNN bubbcmo. % Ipinning-mjitBl €nt
The following air is another and, in point of melody, a more pleasing specimen of the Irish
spinning-wheel tunes ; but I regret to add that I am unable to give any notice of the words
sung to it, which, however, were, no doubt, of a somewhat similar nature to those given in
connexion with the air preceding. The tune was taken down, in the summer of 1839, at
the Galway Claddagh, from the singing of Anne Buckley, — of whom I have already spo-
ken,— accompanied, in chorus, by most of the young girls inhabiting that singular locality.
It is also, as I subsequently found, a popular spinning-wheel tune in the county of Clare,
and is, very probably, such in the other western counties.
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
87
lolnrkniEitr /out.
The following reel-tune is a very popular one in the southern counties, but is probably of no
great age. It is obviously a violin air, and formed on the old ballad tune of " Ally Croker."
88 ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
NÓRa arc óúil ottiro. Mm of ijje ftmbr loir.
The following beautiful and, as I believe, very ancient melody, appears to have been a very
generally admired one — at least throughout the Munster counties — for, under different
names derived from various songs written to it, I have obtained sets of it from several
southern localities: and as such sets of a traditionally preserved melody, however simi-
lar in rhythm and general structure, almost necessarily present a diversity in their ca-
dences and phrases, I have deemed it desirable to select from amongst them two settings
in which such diversities are most strikingly exhibited. Of these two settings, that which
immediately follows, and which I am disposed to consider the better, as well as the
simpler one, has been copied from a manuscript book of Irish tunes, written in 1785 by
Mr. Patrick O'Neill, a respectable farmer on the Bessborough estate, and of which book, as
well as of several others of the same kind, I was allowed the use for the present work,
through the kindness of Mr. William R. Blackett, of Ballyne, in the county of Kilkenny.
I should observe that the name given to this set of the melody in the O'Neill MS. was
Pearla an chuil omra, or " The Pearl of the amber Hair ;" but as I have found the air to be
more generally known as Nora an chuil omra, I have thought it best to adopt it
Of the old love-song which has given its prevailing name to this melody, three stanzas,
with metrical translations by the late Mr. Edward Lawson, have been printed by Mr. Har-
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
8!)
diman in his " Irish Minstrelsy," and these have been again printed in the " Irish Popular
Songs," &c., by the late Edward Walsh. But, as Mr. Curry assures me, of these stanzas,
the first and second only properly belong to the old song — the third being a fragment of a
different one ; and even in the former there are some corruptions which are injurious to
their character. The true reading of these stanzas, according to Mr. Curry, should be as
follows : —
a 'Nópa an cúil ompa,
'Sé ma bpón-pa nd péabaim,
Ldrii a cup páV ceann-pa,
No ap bpollac t>o léincin,
Qp cú o'pdg mo ceann-pa,
5an únpa ap bic céille,
'Sso n-éalóinn cap cuinn leac,
a ptJin 51I O'a b-péat>pamn.
Q valentine cpoioe na pdipce,
56 50 n-aedpnaip liom bpéaj,
lp sup §eall cú mé pópao,
^an peóiplmj Oo pppéió,
Do piúbalpamn an Opúcc pórnac,
lp ní bptáopainn an péap;
lp 50 m-buaió pí§ na n-Oúl leac,
Q lúibín na 5-cpaob.
O Nora of the amber hair,
It is my grief that I cannot
Put my arm under your head,
Or over thy bosom's vesture;
It is thou that hast left my head
Without a single ounce of sense,
And I would fly over the waves with thee,
O my fair loved one, if I could.
0 my heart-loved valentine,
Tho' to me thou hast told a falsehood,
And that thou hast promised to marry me,
Without a farthing of any kind of fortune,
1 would tread the dew before thee,
And would not press down the grass ;
And may the King of all creation speed thee,
Thou of the branching ringlets.
The set of this air which follows was also obtained from the county of Kilkenny, having
been sent to me by Mr. James Fogarty from Tibroghney, together with a stanza of the song
which had been sung to it in that district, and of which, unfortunately, it was all that he
could remember. This song Mr. Fogarty describes as " a pensive song or lament of one
who was forced to leave home and the object of his affection :" and he adds — " I only re-
member a few verses which I think very good poetry. It is said to be more than two hun-
dred and fifty years old ; but the age of the air is beyond any reach of tradition." The
verses above alluded to, and which form a stanza, have been, as I have found, more accu-
rately remembered by Mr. Curry, whose recollection of them I gladly insert as a specimen
of the older and now rarely to be recovered Irish love-song : and I have no doubt that the
superior harmony of the language, and adaptation of rhythm to the melody, which this
stanza exhibits as compared with the words of the later song, will dispose the Irish reader
to regret that I have only the means of preserving this fragment.
Ndc aoibmn Oo na h-émíne
O'eipgeann 50 h-dpb,
lp cúiplmseann le céile
Qp aon cpaoib arhdin ;
"Ni map pin bo oéimm
lp mo céaO mile spdo,
dec ap paba 6 na céile,
Óíop dp n-éipge 50c Id.
How happy for the little birds
That rise up on high,
And alight then together
On the one single branch :
It is not so that I do
And my hundred thousand times loved one,
But it is far from each other
We arise every day.
Between the set of the air already given and that which follows, the musical reader will
hardly fail to perceive an important difference, namely, the omission in the latter of the
2a
90
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
interval of the fourth of the diatonic scale, while in the former it appears as an emphatic
note, and — together with the more frequent recurrence of the flat seventh — adds conside-
rably to the Irish character of the air.
j* = Pend. 27 inches. ^ — .
ores.
Andante.
< y * i > >
# #
m
r
Besides the fragments above given of Irish love-songs to this air, there has been also a
song written to it by another Munster poet, which has been preserved in its entirety. It is
the production of a poet of the last century, named Joseph Roberts, and is called Reidh
chnoc mna Sighe, or " The Benshee's smooth Hill ; " but as it has been very correctly printed,
with a harmonious metrical translation by the late James Clarence Mangan, in the " Poets
and Poetry of Munster," — a very interesting little work edited and published by J ohn O'Daly,
of Anglesea-street, Dublin, — it will not be necessary that I should insert in this work more
than a stanza of it as a specimen, with, however, a literal prose translation.
Gp pctoa mé 05 sluapacc
Gp cuaipij'5 mo gpáó,
Qp puaio gleannca ouba uaisneac,
Qm PUC150.Ó le pdn ;
Q cuaipip5 ni b-puapup,
56 jup cuapcaijeap a Idn,
O Caipeal 50 Cuabiiiuttiain,
lp 50 bpuac geal na TTldig.
Long am I wandering
In search of my love,
Through dark, lonely valleys
I am driven to roam ;
No account have I found of her,
Though far have I searched,
From Cashel to Thomond,
And the banks of fair Maige.
I should further notice that a set of this melody — differing a good deal from those which
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
91
I have selected for publication — will also be found in Mr. O'Daly's volume, and immediately
following the words of Roberts's song written to it ; but, by some strange mistake, it is given
as the air Bean dubh an ghleanna, and in connexion with the words of the old song so
called, to which it could not, by any possibility, be sung. The true melody of Bean dubh
an ghleanna — properly Moll, or Poll dubh an ghleanna — is very well known, and has been
given by Bunting in the earliest volume of his publications of Irish melodies, and will be
familiar to most readers as the air to which Moore wrote the first of his Irish songs, " Go
where Glory waits thee."
%kú Clonks in rnnxr %ú\n\ ; or, £jp Xmml for (toft.
The following air, with several others hitherto unpublished, was given to me, more than
forty years ago, by a young friend named O'Sullivan, who was then a medical student in
Dublin, and who, having subsequently obtained an appointment in the army, left Ireland,
and, as I fear, never returned. Of this, as well as of most of the other airs so given to me
by Dr. O'Sullivan, I have only to state that they were learnt by him during his boyhood in
the county of Kerry, of which he was a native.
92
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
ۤt Bunt.
The following dance-tune, — which is, or rather was, a very popular one in Munster, and
for which I am indebted to Mr. Patrick Joyce, — belongs to the class of dance-tunes com-
monly known by the term " set dances." Such tunes may have a general character in
common with those of any of the other classes of dance-tunes, as the double jig, reel, or
hornpipe, but are usually distinguished by some inequality in the length of their parts, or
some other irregularity of structure, which necessarily requires a particular dance to be
appropriated to each of them, and which is never danced to any other tune. Thus, as will
be seen in the present tune, — which has essentially the hornpipe character, — while the first
part presents the usual number of eight measures, the second has the unusual number of
twelve. And hence the dance for such a tune was called a " set" for it, or " the set" of it. Set
dances — as Mr. Joyce informs me — were generally, but not always, danced by one person.
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ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
93
rois seal ou5. . CJp fnir-skimirir, Mnrk-Jmircii &m.
In the entire range of Irish melodies, there is, perhaps, scarcely one of more widely-spread
popularity amongst the Irish peasantry than the air called Rois geal dubh, and sometimes
Roisin dubh, the first signifying the "Fair, or white-skinned, black-haired Rose," and the se-
cond the "Black-haired little Rose." But though the air, as I conceive, is one of great beauty,
it probably owes at least as much of its celebrity to the old love-song associated with it, as to
the excellence of the tune itself; for I find this song — in the province of Connaught more
particularly — as often, if not oftener, united to a different and, as I think, an inferior air.
I should observe, however, that this different air is usually known as the Roisin dubh, while
on the other hand the air now presented to the reader is as usually known as the Rois geal
dubh. And it appears to me that such adaptations of the same words to different melodies
affords a strong evidence that the tunes are of an antiquity anterior to the words. Of the
air commonly known as the Roisin dubh, two settings have been given by Bunting in his
last publication; and I shall probably give another setting myself, in the course of this
work. That this latter air is, as it is generally deemed to be by the people, a very ancient
one, I see no reason to doubt ; and that it is so, to the extent of a considerable antiquity, we
have evidence in the fact that this tune is essentially the same (though more ancient in its
structure) as the very popular melody called " Margaret Roche," to which a song had been
written on a lady of that name, who was executed in Ennis for the murder of her husband
some time in the seventeenth century.
The air usually known by the name of Rois geal dubh is, I am satisfied, at least equally
ancient ; and, as a tune generally known throughout Ireland, I cannot but wonder that it
should not hitherto have found a place in any of the published collections of our music.
Two sets of it have, however, been recently printed in Mr. O'Daly's " Poets and Poetry of
Munster," — but they have obviously been noted from the playing of some piper or fiddler,
and are wanting in Irish vocal character. In both these settings the air is written as if in
the Minor mode ; and I have several MS. settings of it similarly noted. But I have never
heard it sung so, at least strictly ; and though to some ears it might seem more pleasing in
that mode, I am of opinion that it is in the Major mode only that its character can be truly
rendered. Of the various settings of this melody which I possess, I have therefore chosen
one written in that mode, and which best agrees with my own impression of the air, as I
have heard it sung. This setting of it was obtained from Mr. Fogarty, late of Tibroghney,
who, in the memorandum which accompanied it, calls it the tune of a sweet and celebrated
old love-song, and adds an expression of deep regret that he could find no copy of that song
in his neighbourhood, or amongst the "old stock of the country," from whom he had often
sought for it, but sought in vain.
Of the old Irish song which gave the name of Rois geal dubh, or Roisin dubh, to this and
other tunes, two versions have been printed, one in Mr. Hardiman's " Irish Minstrelsy."
with a very free metrical translation by the late Thomas Furlong, and the other in Mr.
O'Daly's "Poets and Poetry of Munster," with an almost equally free translation by the late
J. Clarence Mangan. These versions differ very much from each other, and Mr. Curry as-
sures me that they are equally corrupted by interpolations from other songs, with a view
to give them a political bearing, and to convert poor Roisin dubh into an allegorical perso-
2b
94
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
nification of unhappy Ireland in the reign of Elizabeth. Heaven knows we have political
lyrics enough — both allegorical and palpable — without adding to their number the older
genuine love-songs of the country, of which we have too few remaining ; and that this old
song has been so tampered with will be perfectly obvious, on a perusal of the following
genuine fragmentary verses, with which I have been favoured by Mr. Curry : —
1.
Gcd liúnbub ap na cpiuca,
ceó ap na cnuic;
Gcd ppaoc ap na pléibce,
lp ní h-iongnab pin ;
Do caop5pmnn an cpéan muip
Le plaopj an ui£,
Dd b-péabam beic péib leac,
Q Róip §eal bub.
Q oT^0 5ea^> ^d bíoó cdp opc
Cpé 'nap eipig buic;
'Cdib bpdicpe bumn cap pdile,
'5up a b-cpiall cap muip ;
beib bo pdpDÚn ó pdpa,
Na Róriia asumn,
lp céab pldmce a b-pion Spdmeac
Dom TCóip geal bub.
Do piúbalpamn an Tntiriiain leac,
lp bapp 50c cnuic,
TTlap púil 'P50 b-pajamn pun uaic,
lp cdipbeap puilc;
Q cpaob cúriipa, a búbaipc liom
50 paib spdó agac bam,
'Qp cú plup na m-ban múmce,
TTlo Roip seal bub.
1.
There's black grief on the plains,
And a mist on the hills ;
There is fury on the mountains,
And that is no wonder ;
I would empty out the wild ocean
With the shell of an egg,
If J could but be at peace with thee,
My Rois geal dubh.
2.
0 my loved one, be not gloomy
For what has happened to thee ;
We have friends beyond the sea,
And they're returning o'er the tide ;
Thy pardon from the Pope
Of Rome we shall have,
And a hundred healths in Spanish wine
To my Rois geal dubh.
3.
1 would travel all Munster with thee,
And the top of each hill,
In the hope to gain thy favour,
And a happy share in thy love ;
O sweet branch, who hast told me
That thou hadst love for me,
Thou art the flower of accomplished women,
My Rois geal dubh.
That the above stanzas are a portion — if not the whole — of a genuine love-song, written
upon some real incident which occurred to persons of respectable station, there can, I think,
be little doubt ; and it is to be regretted that all knowledge of the occasion of its being
written, and the period of its composition, are now, it is to be feared, irrecoverably lost.
As Mr. Curry observes — " It will be seen that the subject of these verses is love, but a
love the course of which evidently ran with more than ordinary unsmoothness. It would
appear — indeed it does appear — that the love was mutual, but that it was indulged under
some difficulties caused either by consanguinity or religion. The parties must have been
within the forbidden degrees of relationship, or the woman restrained by particular vows.
Cases of both kinds are to be found in our history, and have been, for a long time at least,
dependent on a Papal dispensation for their final issue. And the allusion to this fact here
is so clear that it requires no argument to prove it."
As usual with most of our finer melodies, this one of Rois geal dubh has, as it appears,
been adapted to many other songs, as well in English as in Irish, besides that older one
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
95
from which it has derived its best known name ; but of these songs I have only obtained a
copy of one, which has been commonly sung in the Munster counties. It is a peasant love-
song, in English, and would hardly be worthy of notice but for its first stanza, which is
clearly the work of a different hand from that of the writer of the rest. This stanza, how-
ever, as will be seen below, is but a different, and probably less correct version of the well-
known English nursery song on the cuckoo, published by Chambers, in his "Popular Rhymes
of Scotland," and by Halliwell, in his " Nursery Rhymes of England."
The cuckoo's a fine bird, English Version. — " The cuckoo's a fine bird,
She sings as she flies ; He sings as he flies ;
She brings us new tidings, He brings us good tidings,
And tells us no lies. He tells us no lies.
She sucks pretty flowers He sucks little birds' eggs
To make her voice clear ; To make his voice clear ;
And the more she sings " Cuckoo !" And when he sings ' Cuckoo !'
Sweet summer draws near. The summe: is near.'
I have found that the above old melody is also now known in the counties of Kerry,
Clare, and Limerick, by the name " Ct 015-piri jpoióe cópai^," or "0 brave, generous young
man," a name derived, as Mr. Curry informs me, from a popular song, written about the
year 1806, by Mary Harman, of Ardfert, a beautiful and intelligent girl of a respectable
but reduced family. In this song she assigns her reasons for refusing to elope with a lover
and expresses, in pleasing language, her horror of any immoral or disreputable conduct .
*
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96
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
#ir fjjfeirlt Alton's 3&m\.
I found the following old march tune, many years since, in a MS. music book, written
about the middle of the last century. It is obviously a bagpipe tune, and is a good speci-
men of the kind of march music prevalent in Ireland during the civil wars of the seven-
teenth century, but which, in its general character, if not in its age, was probably of a much
earlier antiquity; as all the distinguished families had from an indefinitely remote time
some march-tune peculiar to themselves.
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I am unable to determine, with any certainty, who the Sir Patrick Bellew was whose
name has been connected with this old tune. The name Patrick has long been a common
one in that noble Anglo-Norman family in Ireland ; but the only Patrick amongst them,
during the seventeenth century, whom I have found entitled to the knightly prefix, Sir, was
Sir Patrick Bellew, of Bellew Mount, or Barmeath, in the county of Louth, from whom the
present Patrick Lord Bellew descends. This Sir Patrick was the son of Sir J ohn Bellew,
knight, of "Willystown, in the same county, who was the son of Patrick Bellew, of Lisrane
and Willystown, who, again, was the son of John, second son of Sir John, of Bellewstown,
the ancestor of the Lords Bellew now extinct. Sir Patrick, who was an adherent of King
James the Second, was advanced, through the interest of the Earl of Tirconnell, to the rank
of a baronet in April, 1687. But he does not appear to have taken part, or served in any
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
97
military capacity, in the war which so soon after followed his elevation, and his estates were
not confiscated, — so that it is very unlikely that his was the name connected with this tune.
Looking earlier, however, into the history of the family, we find a Patrick, who was the
grandson of Sir John Bellew of Bellewstown, by his third son, Richard, of Verdanstown ; and
to this Patrick I think the name of the march may, with the largest amount of probability,
be assigned ; for he was a captain of the forces raised in the county of Louth for the Confe-
derate Catholics during the civil war of 1641, and was one of those excepted from pardon
for life and estate by Cromwell's Act of Parliament for the settlement of Ireland, passed in
August, 1652, by which he lost an estate of between five and six thousand acres. It is true,
I have not found that he was ever knighted, but such fact is not impossible ; and, at all
events, it was a popular usage amongst the Irish to apply to men of rank titles which
had been borne by their ancestors.
Jíflnnj tjn ^riirc af ijj* isst
When I gave the following air to be put in type, I had no idea that there could be any
doubt of its being, what its characteristics strongly indicate, a genuine Irish one. But
though I have recently found that our right to it may be somewhat questionable, and
though I feel it but fair to make this acknowledgment, I do not consider the proofs of its
foreign origin sufiiciently conclusive to require me to exclude it from a place in this work, —
and the more particularly as, though it should appear that its origin was not Irish, it would
still be interesting, and perhaps instructive, as an example of the changes which a national
melody may assume — so as almost to obliterate its original character — on its adoption by
another people who had a native music differing from it in style and feeling.
This melody has long been a very popular one in the southern and midland counties of
Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Clare, Tipperary, and Kilkenny, from most of which I have obtained
settings of it ; and certainly the people of those counties have now no notion that its Irish
origin can be doubted. In all those districts it is now generally known by the name of
" Nancy the pride of the East" or " West" as in some localities — a name derived from the
burden of a ballad song in English, which was very popular about the close of the last cen-
tury. But, as Mr. Curry acquaints me, in MS. copies of some older Irish songs, and, par-
ticularly, in all the copies which have come under his notice, of a well- written elegy, by the
Irish poet John O'Toomey, on the death, in 1754, of his brother bard John Mac Donnell
Claragh, he cannot remember one in which it is not set down as to be sung to the fonn Al-
banach, or Scottish tune, called " The Banks of the Tweed and, as it is to the air here
published that he has heard all those older songs sung, he supposes that this tune must be
the fonn Albanach just spoken of, and, therefore, not Irish.
The fact thus made known to me by Mr. Curry, necessarily led me, at once, to such an
investigation of authorities as appeared likely to throw light upon the question ; and I soon
ascertained that there was a tune named "The Banks of the Tweed," which, as far as I know,
first appeared in "Johnson's Musical Museum," Edinb. 1787. But on a comparison of this
air with our " Nancy the pride of the East," I found they had nothing whatsoever in com-
mon ; and further, that we had the high authority of Robert Burns that the tune given by
2c
98 ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
Johnson was not Scottish, but the "attempt of an English composer to imitate the Scottish
manner." — Vide Burns' Works, Eighth Edition, vol. v. London, 1814. A comparison,
however, of our air with the old and beautiful Scottish melody called " Tweedside," led to
a very different result, as the two airs were found to be so perfectly similar, in their general
construction and rhythm, that verses written for the one would be equally suited to the
other. It was found also that, in the first bar of the second strain, there is a similarity of
melody in both airs ; but this is the only melodic agreement which they exhibit, and the
candid musical reader will judge for himself how far this perfect similarity in construction,
and partial agreement in melody, will authorize the conclusion that our air is a corruption of,
or founded on, the Scottish one. Without, however, being conscious of any prejudice to bias
my judgment, and actuated solely by a desire to elicit the truth, I cannot hesitate to de-
clare that I do not see any sufficient grounds to warrant such a conclusion ; and, moreover,
I am strongly of opinion that such similarity in the construction of the two airs — if not
wholly accidental — would rather make it probable that " Nancy the pride of the East" was
the parent of "Tweedside," than that the Scottish air was the parent of it; for the construc-
tion found in these airs is the same as that to which I have adverted in p. 53, as one pecu-
liar to a large class of Irish and Highland melodies ; and I may now add that, on a recent
examination of Woods' " Songs of Scotland," so ably edited by Mr. George Farquhar Graham,
and which is the latest collection published of Scottish music, I have found, in the whole
collection, but five airs so constructed, and of these Mr. Graham acknowledges one, " Leezie
Lindsay," to be a Gaelic melody, and a second, "Queen Mary's Lament," to be a modern com-
position,— thus reducing the number to three, and of these three I shall hereafter prove one
to be unquestionably Irish.
Seeing, then, that tunes of this construction constitute a very numerous class common
to Ireland and the Gaelic Highlands, while, on the contrary, scarcely a well-authenticated
example of an air so constructed can be found amongst the melodies of England, Wales, or
the Scottish Lowlands, the inference would appear to be unavoidable that the air called
" Tweedside," however modified by modern musical refinement, had most probably a
Highland, if not an Irish, origin — or was derived from a melody common to both coun-
tries. It is true, indeed, there is authority to prove that " Tweedside" was known in Scot-
land in the early part of the last century ; but the Ley den MS. in which it appears, and
which proves this, proves nothing more ; as that MS. is not confined to Scottish tunes, and
has in it tunes of undoubted Irish origin. And though it may be conceded, as possible,
that Toomey's elegiac song on the death of Mac Donnell Claragh, adverted to by Mr. Curry,
may have been originally -written to the Scottish " Tweedside," it is in the highest degree
improbable that the peasantry of so large a portion of Ireland could have become familia-
rized with it, or — if such did happen — that they should all have adopted a form of the me-
lody which retains scarcely a vestige of the features of that beautiful air.
Amongst the various settings of our Irish melody, which I have obtained from various
parts of Ireland, there is a more than usual agreement. The most graceful, however, of
those settings is that here presented to the reader, and which was communicated to me by
Mr. Fogarty, of Tibroghney, in the county of Kilkenny. In the memorandum which ac-
companied it, he describes the air as " a very ancient love-song, the words of which are
most beautiful," and as being also " mixed with patriotism or politics — complaining that he
[the lover] will fly to France or Spain, and never return." He adds — " There was, or is, an
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
99
English translation of this song to the air, and called ' Nancy the pride of the East.' " I
regret that I have been unable to procure a copy either of the original Irish song or of the
translation of it to which Mr. Fogarty alludes.
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Many other songs, as well in English as in Irish, appear to have been adapted to this
air by the Munster poets, and, as usual, such songs have given names to it, known in pro-
portion to their popularity. Of these songs, the most celebrated is the Irish one called Ar
Erinn ni 'neósainn cé hi, or, " For Ireland I would not tell who she is." This song has been
printed, with a metrical translation, in the " Irish Popular Songs," by the late Mr. Edward
Walsh ; and, in reference to it, he makes the following statement, in a note : — " The author
of this beautiful love-song is unknown, but it would seem that he was a native of the county
Kerry, as this is the most popular song in that part of Munster. Tradition attributes it to
100
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
a young man who fell violently in love with the affianced bride of his own brother." Tra-
dition, however, is often found to be a cloak for fanciful inventions ; and Mr. Curry, who
has long known this song, and the general opinion of the peasantry as to its origin, ac-
quaints me that its author was not a young lover of his brother's affianced bride, but an old
schoolmaster of the county of Kerry, named Finneen, or Florence, Scannell, — and that it was
written about forty years ago upon some imaginary Beauty, for the purpose of exciting the
curiosity and hostility of contemporary bards. Amongst the English street-ballads written
to this air, one, of which Mr. Curry has favoured me with a copy, would appear to have
been suggested by, if it did not itself suggest, the Irish song just alluded to. It is not worth
printing in extenso, but I venture to give a couple of stanzas of it as an illustration.
I am a disconsolate rake,
That spent my estate most free,
In frantic and frolicksome freaks
'Mongst the fair sex of ev'ry degree.
I was never subdued by a maid,
Nor ever intended to be,
Till Cupid my poor heart betrayed,
And her captive I now must be.
It happened one morning in May,
As the flowers sweet odour disclosed,
Through Milltown I happened to stray,
Where the goddess of beauty reposed.
Her shape was exquisitely rare,
When under a green shady tree,
To mention her name I'll forbear,
But style her sweet Storeen ma chree.
Another Irish song to this melody will be found in Mr. O'Daly's " Poets and Poetry of
Munster :" it is written in praise of
" The spreading Lee that, like an island fayre,
Encloseth Corke with his divided flood,"
by a Munster poet named Eogan, or Owen (the small-fingered) Mac Carthy, and is not
wanting in beauty. Mr. O'Daly has also given in the same work a setting of the melody ;
but, though it is quite similar in its rhythmical and general construction to the air now pub-
lished, yet, being written in the Minor mode, it has consequently a far deeper expression of
sadness, and has in other respects so little resemblance, that the identity of the two airs
may possibly be questioned.
Inst iotartanj % igljt m 3 lnt| in mg 9Bé.
The following air, which was given to me by my friend Mr. James M. O'Reilly, now of
Rathmines, was learnt by that gentleman in the county of Carlow, where, as well as in
some of the adjacent counties, it was commonly sung to a street-ballad, the first line of
which I have adopted as a name for the air, having been unable to ascertain its true one.
The words of this ballad, though rude, are less objectionable than usual in songs of its
class ; and as a historical memorial of one of the latest of the agrarian combinations which
for so long a period disturbed so many parts of Ireland, its preservation may, perhaps, be
desirable, — and the more particularly as it indicates the objects for which such combination
was formed, and points out the localities in which it was most active. The association to
which I allude was that known by the appellation of Carders, — a name derived, as Mr. Crof-
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IEELAND.
101
ton Croker informs us, "from their inhuman practice of inflicting punishment on the naked
back -with the wool card;" and their objects appear to have been confined to " the punish-
ment of informers, or those who took or let lands at a high rent." Such, at least, are the
objects named by themselves in the following song: —
Last Saturday night as I lay in my bed,
The neighbours came to me, and this 'twas they said :
Are you Captain Lusty ? — I answered them — no !
Are you Captain Carder ? — Indeed I am so.
Get up Captain Carder, and look thro' your glass,
And see all your merry men just as they pass ;
The clothing they wear, 'tis rare to be seen,
With their Liberty jackets bound over with green.
Success to Moll Hayden, and long may she reign,
For instead of cold water, she gave us pure cream,
To put strength in our bodies, and speed in our feet,
And make us be able to whale the black sheep.
Here's luck to Kilkenny, and sweet Ballyroan, —
As for Timahoe town, we may call it our own ;
In Timahoe town we may march up and down,
And at Billy Dunne's corner we'll make them he down.
Success to the Whitefeet — there's few of them here ;
We'll toast their good health in both whiskey and beer ;
And long may they reign over country and town,
For they are the boys that keep land-jobbers down !
4
102
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
Diiuiii /nq ; nr; Ermralier íSjb ^EDSi-strnra.
During the palmy days of the Dublin street ballad-singers, — when their calling was not
only a lawful or permitted, but even a somewhat respectable and lucrative one, — the fol-
lowing air was, for a considerable time, one that might be heard warbled, daily and nightly,
in every thickly inhabited and very Irish part of the city. I allude to a period, looking
backwards at least forty years, when I first heard this and many other airs which became
fixed in my memory, — little thinking, at the time, that the task should ever devolve on me
of thus endeavouring to rescue them from oblivion. In subsequent years, however, I found
that the melodies periodically employed to give circulation to the new ballads of the day,
were those of which the merits had been long tested in the service ; and that, under various
names, they had usually travelled from the provinces to the metropolis, to do duty for a
while, and then be forgotten. And so it has been with this air, which was sung to a street-
ballad called "David Foy," or, "Remember the Pease-straw," and of which I have been
unable to find a copy in Dublin ; but the melody is still a well-known one, at least in some
of the Connaught counties, from which, most probably, it originally emanated.
It will be seen that in this air there is a departure from the ordinary construction ob-
servable in melodies of its class, — namely, that of its four sections, the third one is not, as
usual, a repetition, however modified, of the second, or preceding one.
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ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
103
The following melody appears to have been a very popular dance-tune during the greater
part, if not the whole, of the last century ; but, as its plaintive sentiment would suggest, it
is most probably formed from some vocal air of an earlier age in slower time, and it is still
used by the Pipers as an Andante theme for variations. A setting of the air, as a dance-
tune, has been already printed in O'FarrelTs " Pocket Companion for the Irish or Union
Pipes ;" but that now given — which has been copied from one in the old MS. book of dance-
tunes already often referred to — is, I think, a better as well as an older one.
dó o-céióiN 50 cóbac. 3f 3 sjjnnlíi gn fa a iCInnm.
The following beautiful, and, as I believe, very old melody, is one of a considerable col-
lection of unpublished airs, made in the county of Wexford by Mr. Robert Fitzgerald, of
Enniscorthy, the whole of which he has very kindly placed at my disposal. It is to my
friend, Mr. Curry, however, that I am indebted for the old Irish name which I have given
to this melody ; this name being the first line of a very ancient love-song which Mr. Curry
104
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
had always heard sung to it in the county of Clare, but of which, unfortunately, he cannot
now remember perfectly more than the following half stanza : —
Dd t>-céibin 50 cóbaó,
Q m-beio bpupjap bó '5e
lp cailin 65 t>eap
Le cabaipc amac ;
Dob' eagla mop liom
5up oiúlcao geóbainn ;
TDap nac eól bóib
TTla pinnpeap ceapc
If I should go to a clown,
Who had a herd of cows
And a pretty young girl
To give away ;
It is much I fear
That 'tis a refusal I'd get ;
Because they know not
My right descent.
The air was only known to Mr. Fitzgerald as one of several tunes of the same class
which have been popularly sung in the county of Wexford to a peasant ballad, com-
memorative of the insurrectionary conflicts of '98 in that county. Of this ballad Mr. Fitz-
gerald has obtained for me a copy ; but though it may have some value in a historical point
of view, it has no merit, either of thought or expression, that could make it desirable to
give even a portion of it in this work.
It will be perceived that this tune belongs to that most peculiarly Irish class of our
melodies which I have ventured to term "narrative," and which I have attempted to analyze,
in connexion with a tune of the same class — The Cailin Ban, or " Fair Girl" — which will
be found at page 45.
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ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
oa t>-céióiN 50 cóbaó. 3f 3 sjjnnla gn in a Clcmn.
The musical reader will at once perceive that the following is but a varied setting of the
preceding air ; but, as in its points of difference it is so truly Irish, and, as a whole, is so
parallel in beauty to the other that it may be doubted which form of the melody is the
truer one, I have, on every account, considered its insertion desirable. Like the former
setting, it was noted by Mr. Fitzgerald in the county of Wexford, where it was sung to the
same '98 ballad, — the first line of which I now give, in order that, should it ever be printed
as a historical memorial, its identification with these melodies may be secured : —
" Some treat of David, that valiant hero, who slew Goliath, and so won the field."
106
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
iTije (Dlíi Wmau touting jnr Jfinm.
The following Minister dance-tune was obtained from Mr. James Fogarty. It does not
appear to me to be a tune of much antiquity, but it is strongly marked with Irish charac-
ter, and, like many airs of its class, it is defective in the fourth of the scale.
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AXCIEXT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
107
As the melody of the charter song of that singular social union of wit and talent which ex-
isted in Dublin, from the year 1779 to the close of the year 1785, and was called "The Monks
of the Order of St. Patrick," but commonly known as "The Monks of the Screw," the following
air will possess an interest, from its historical associations, independent of, and probably
greater, than any which might be derived from its intrinsic originality and beauty. Few
of the readers of this work will require to be informed that this well-known charter song
was written for the society by its Prior, the late John Philpot Curran ; but it has not been
hitherto known that the music selected by the gifted poet, as a fit medium for his serio-
comic verses, was a gay Irish melody, arrayed in a mock solemnity, and which, no doubt,
he had learnt in his own loved county of Cork. It would appear, indeed, that, under its
assumed gravity of character, its Irish origin was never suspected ; for it is spoken of by Mr.
Phillips in his amusing work, " Curran and his Contemporaries," as a " droll kind of recita-
tive ;" and even Mr. Win. Henry Curran, to whose kindness I have to acknowledge myself
indebted for the notation of this tune, had no notion that it was other than, as he de-
scribed it, a wild sort of ecclesiastical chant, which did not strike him as having in it any-
thing indicative of an Irish melody. With regard, however, to Mr. Curran, it should be
observed, that he never had the advantage of having heard it sung by his father : and
though "Sir. Phillips, as he states, often heard its author " repeat it at his own table," it is
not to be wondered at that one who describes the effect upon himself of Curran's enthusi-
astic performance on the violoncello to have been such as "to render gravity painful, if not
impossible," should have failed to discover that what he considered to be only a " droll kind
of recitative" was one of those Irish melodies which Curran so dearly loved, and felt such
intense enjoyment in plajóng. Certain it is, however, that all persons were not affected by
Mr. Curran's performances in a manner similar to that described by Mr. Phillips ; for I, who
have frequently had, in my early days, the great pleasure of hearing Mr. Curran's perform-
ances, was never otherwise affected by the indications of absorbed and impassioned feeling
which accompanied them, than in a way the farthest removed from any excitement of the
sense of the ludicrous; but, on the contrary, there has been left upon my mind a solemn im-
pression of the depth of sensibility to melody which, combined with so many other of his
higher mental qualities, rendered Mr. Curran one of the most brilliant examples of a cha-
racter in all its bearings so thoroughly, so unmistakably, and — may I not add? — so ad-
mirably Irish.
But, however this may be, the air is not only one of wide-spread popularity in Ire-
land, but is one also found under various names, and assuming various forms, both in the
Highlands and Lowlands of Scotland. In Ireland, it is sometimes sung in moderate time,
and in the minor mode, but, more generally, as a lively air, and in the major ; and a set-
ting of it, in the latter, is given in Bunting's last volume of " The Ancient Music of Ireland/*
under the name of " I will pay them yet." This setting, however — which, as Mr. Bunting
states, was procured from a lady at Oranmore, in the county of Gal way — is a very incorrect
one. In Scotland, on the contrary, such settings of the air as I have met with are given in
the minor mode, though, as in Ireland, some are set as Andantes, and others as Allegros.
Of these settings, two, differing much from each other, appear in Fraser's " Airs and Meio-
108
4
A NCI EXT ^niSIC OF IRELAND.
dies peculiar to the Highlands of Scotland and the Isles:" Edinburgh, 1816. They are
both given as slow airs: one is called Ionian nan gamhna, or " Driving the Steers;" and
the other Gar mis Jtha gu craitach d* r£ iriruidh, or " What pain I've endured since last
year ;" and, like most of the tunes in that work, they are very incorrect or corrupted set-
tings. In Johnson's "Scots' Musical Museum," Edinburgh, 1787, the tune is given as a
lively one, and is called "Gae to the ky wi' me, Johnny," which is the burden of an old
Lowland song ; and hence it would appear that the air had passed from the Highlands into
the Lowland plains, at a time not very recent. This setting of the tune, though more in
accordance with the Irish versions than those given by Captain Fraser, is still but an indif-
ferent one : it is, however, of interest, from its being, obviously, the parent of the beautiful
melody bearing a similar name, subsequently published by Mr. George Thomson in his
" Select Collection of Scottish Airs," and which, as Mr. Thomson states, Mr. Shield, the
celebrated English composer — in whose Appendix to his Introduction to Harmony it first
appeared — appreciated so highly as to think it sufficient to enhance the value of the most
voluminous collection.
It is scarcely necessary to observe that, in the notation of the melody, as sung by the
Monks of the Screw, now presented to the reader, there is given to it a character not strictly
Irish, consequent upon the adaptation to it of Mr. Curran's words. But this peculiarity
consists chiefly in its emphatic accentuation ; for, in every other way, the setting of the
melody is essentially the same as that of one sung, as a slow air, to a ballad called " The
Cove of Cork," and of which I made a notation more than forty years ago. I have not,
therefore, deemed it necessary to give any second setting of it in slow time and in the minor
mode ; but I have thought it desirable to add a setting, as a lively air, in the major mode,
in which form it is now more generally sung and played in Ireland. This setting, which
was sung to a ballad called u The Groves of Blackpool," was also noted about the same time
as that to which I have already alluded.
As the words of the charter song have been already published by Mr. W. H. Curran, in
his excellent Life of his father, a stanza of it, as a specimen of its rhythmical adaptation to
the melody, will be sufficient in tins place : —
When Saint Patrick our order created, But first he replenished his fountain
And called us " The Monks of the Screw," With liquor the best in the sky ;
Good rules he revealed to our Abbot, And he swore, on the word of his saintship,
To guide us in what we should do. That fountain should never run dry.
I find it difficult to close this notice without observing that it has afforded me a no
ordinary pleasure to have had it in my power, by the publication of this air, to add even one
ray of light to the history of that remarkable phase of society which existed in Dublin
towards the close of the last century, — a phase of society which is so interesting, from the
varied talents and public virtues which it exhibited, and to which — as it would be difficult,
if not impossible, to find a parallel at any earlier period of our history — there is, perhaps,
but little probability that a similar one will ever be seen again. The icords of this song
enabled us to bring before the mind that striking feature which characterized this state of
society, namely, the indulgence of a playful and exuberant mirthfulness by men distin-
guished for their graver intellectual qualities: — we could imagine them attired in their
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
109
grotesque costumes, chanting, with ludicrous gravity, the burlesque verses furnished by
their primest wit and humorist ; but, to enable us to realize the scene more vividly, the
actual musical sounds by which these verses were made audible were still wanting — and
these are now supplied.
0 = Vend. 12 inches
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€ij? <0rnnrH of 9Slnrkponl.
As I have stated in the preceding notice, the following different setting of the air just given
is that now usually sung and played in Ireland, particularly in the county of Cork, where
it is generally known by the name of " The Groves of Blackpool," — a locality formerly so
called, and which now, divested of its trees, forms an extensive suburb on the northern side
of Cork city. The name thus given to the tune, if not derived from some older song, owes its
origin to a ballad called " The Groves of Blackpool," or " De Groves of de Pool," by the late
Richard Alfred Milliken, the well-known author of the burlesque words called " The Groves
of Blarney," and which, as Mr. Crofton Croker acquaints us, " was intended to depict the
return, or, as he humorously calls it, the ' advance back again,' of the ' gallant Cork City
Militia,' after the rebellion of 1798, and their reception in ' de groves' which had sheltered
the infancy of ' dose Irish heroes.' " As the whole of this song has been printed by Mr.
Croker in his amusing volume, "The Popular Songs of Ireland," I do not deem it necessary to
give any portion of it in this work. Indeed, with all due respect to the memory of " honest
Dick Milliken," I confess that I feel but little admiration for the productions of that class of
writers of whom he was one of the most distinguished, and who, following in the wake ot
Lord Wharton, the author of " Lilliburlero bullen-a-la" — but without the excuse of a poli-
tical object, which that English nobleman had in view — have endeavoured to gain celebrity
by attempts, usually stupid enough, to turn their countrymen into ridicule ; thus giving
some sad truth to the old saying, that if one Irishman is to be roasted, another will always
be found ready to turn the spit. It is greatly to the honour of England and Scotland that
they have produced, and would tolerate, no such class of writers.
2 F
110
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
There have been, as I understand, many other street ballads adapted to this air, but I
have only met with one of them, and of this a stanza will be a sufficient specimen.
I am a rakish young fellow,
That now leads a comical life :
My mind it will never be easy
Until I am tied to a wife.
Those seven long years I am courting,
And sporting my cash like a man :
I oftentimes pay the whole reckoning,
For such things I don't care a d — n.
Chorus. With my wattle, my pipe and tobacco,
I'll go out as clean as I can ;
And if I'm rather fond of the girls,
Sure that's no bad sign of the man.
It should be observed, that all these street ballads have a chorus which requires a Da
Capo, or return to the first strain of the tune.
r-
Pend. 18 inches.
>4
3t=3:
f~ ~t
\ 1
7 t
<D Unnq, linnrif, ho't \n rrmrmlipr?
In giving a place in this collection — which I confess I should be sorry to deny — to the fine
old melody which follows, I feel it but a duty to state that, in its construction, it appears to
me to have, perhaps, as much of an English as of an Irish character ; and that, if it be not,
as it possibly may be, an air imported into, and naturalized in, our country, it is at least,
and with more probability, one of Anglo-Irish origin. The musical critic will at once per-
ceive that the English character to which I allude is chiefly found in the closing cadence
of each phrase ; the general construction, as well as the tone of sentiment of the air, being
truly Irish. It would be strange if, during the last seven centuries, in which our island
has been so largely planted from England, no melodies should have been introduced amongst
us which had sufficient beauty to insure their perpetuation, even after they had been for-
gotten in the country in which they had their origin : and it would be equally strange if
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
Ill
the incorporation of the two races did not give birth to a class of melody indicative of the
mixed character so produced, and to which the term Anglo-Irish might with propriety be
applied. That there are airs of both classes, and particularly of the latter, still remaining
in Ireland, I cannot entertain a doubt; and as there is now, unfortunately, no other evi-
dence respecting their origin to be found, but that derived from their own peculiar charac-
teristics, I shall, as I have done in the present instance, direct attention to such evidence as
often as it may seem proper to do so, rather than exclude such airs from this collection.
This melody was noted, nearly fifty years ago, from the singing of it by a servant girl,
to a street-ballad, of which I have long ceased to retain in my memory more than the first
two lines.
Oh ! Nancy, Nancy, don't you remember
The protestations that you made to me ?
' = Tend. 14 inches
mm
I
v-
9 = 1
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—
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mm
-0
_
112
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
Mnm unmúmú.
If I ever heard the name of the following air, I regret that I have long since forgotten it.
It is one of a large number of tunes which I noted from the singing of the Dublin street
ballad-singers more than forty years ago ; and though the tune is not very Irish in its cha-
racter, nor probably very old, its spirit and flow of melody appeared to me to entitle it to a
place in this collection.
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The peculiarities of construction in the following air would, I think, lead to the conclusion
that it is not a very ancient or purely Irish one ; but its pleasing flow of melody appeared
to me to give it a fair claim to preservation. It was noted more than forty years ago from
the singing of a near connexion of my own, and the serio-comic words sung to it were ob-
viously not the production of a peasant or ordinary writer. But though, at the period to
which I have alluded, this song, like others of its class, was a favourite one at the dinner or
supper table, even in good society, I can only venture to give a stanza of it, as an illustra-
tion, in this work. I may, perhaps, add, that such songs were not uncommon in Ireland
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
113
during the latter half of the last century, and that they were usually the compositions of
men not only of good education and talents, but, frequently, of a distinguished position in
society.
One Sunday after Mass,
As young Colin and his lass
Through the green woods did pass,
All alone, and all alone :
Chorus. All alone, and all alone.
He asked her for a póg [kiss],
And she called him a rogue,
And she beat him with her brogue,
Och hone, and och hone !
Chorus. Och hone, and och hone !
• = Pend. 16 inches.
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114 ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
The following dance-tune is one of the most popular of the old Munster jigs ; but, unfortu-
nately, its Irish name has been forgotten by Mr. Joyce, to whom I am indebted for the set-
ting of it, and I have been hitherto unsuccessful in my efforts to ascertain it. The name
above given is that by which it is now generally known in the county of Limerick.
0» = Pend. 10 inches.
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tiRuimpioNN t)ONM oitis. C'ljr faitjjfnl Druiminnn Ihran.
The name Dpuimponn oonn — which signifies the white-backed, auburn cow, or Opuim-
pionn oubb, the white-backed, black cow — has been applied to at least three melodies in Ire-
land, and also to one in Scotland which is perfectly Irish in its character and construction.
Of the Irish tunes so called, one has been frequently printed ; and, in the last of Mr. Bunting's
published collections of Irish melodies, it is given with words professing to be a translation
of the Irish Avords which were usually sung to it. This printed melody, however, appears
to me to have been used only as the medium for a chorus, or burden, to one of the two me-
lodies which yet remain unpublished, and which appears to have been a very popular harp
air during the early part of the last century. This melody I shall give hereafter. The
melody now presented to the reader is that usually known as the Druiminn donn, or Drui-
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
115
minn dubh deelish, and to which the Jacobite song so called is now always sung. This air
has been a very popular one in most parts of Ireland, and the setting of it now given was
noted in the county of Derry in 1837, where it was then sung to ballad words beginning,
" You and I will be judged in one day."
P = Pend. 15 inches. , I
Andante, f
ffr\ rrp r r ^f=^7n_
P-
9
WAV r
frr 0 1 cJ' kj ij- 1 r J:
Of the old Jacobite song adapted to this air, three stanzas have been printed, without
translation, by Mr. Hardiman in his " Irish Minstrelsy ;" but the following stanzas, given me
by Mr. Curry, are, according to that gentleman, a portion of the genuine words of this old
song. They are, however, of little merit, and, except in a historical point of view, of little
interest. The strange allegorical impersonation of Ireland, — or, as some think, of the Prince
James Charles Edward, — in the form of a brown or black-sided cow, seems to be a very
unnecessary, as well as grotesque, attempt to conceal a political feeling which is so undis-
guisedly exhibited in the concluding stanza of the song ; and, like many other such allegori-
cal impersonations in the Irish Jacobite songs — such as "Kathleen ni Oulaghan," "Kathleen
Triall," " Graine Waile," " The Blackbird," Sac — it was, most probably, suggested by the
-
116
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
name of some older song which had been applied to this ancient air, and by which it was, at
the time, most popularly known ; for I cannot entertain a doubt that the melodies to which
those J acobite songs were written, are of an antiquity long anterior to those troubled times.
Q ópuimpionn oonn bilip,
lp a piop pjoc na m-bó,
Cd n-jabann cú 'pan oibce,
lp cá m-bíonn cu 'pan ^ó?
bímpi ap na coillce,
lp ma buacailióe am' cóip,
lp o'pdg pé piúo mipi
O5 pileaó na n-t>eóp.
Ní'l peapann ní'l cígeap 05am,
ptonca na céol,
Ní'l plaicib am' caoimbeacc,
Nfl paoice na pl6§;
Qcc 05 piop 61 an uipse,
5o mime 'pan 16,
Q5UP beacuipje ip pion
Q5 mo nairiioib ap bópt>.
O Druiminn Donn beloved,
0 true flower of cows,
Where do you go at night,
And where are you in the day ?
1 am in the woods,
And my boys all around me,
And this is what has left me
A shedding my tears.
I have no lands nor a dwelling,
Neither music nor wine,
No princes attend me,
Neither nobles nor hosts ;
But forced to drink water,
Ofttimes in the day,
Whilst good whiskey and wine
Cheer my foes on their board.
Od b-paismnpi ceat> aignip,
"No paóapc ap an 5-copoin,
Sacpanaig t>o leiobpmn,
TTlap 00 leióbpinn pean bpós,
Cpí bosaijjce, cpí coillce,
lp cpi dpaigneac Id ceó;
Ggup piuo map 00 peolpuinn iat>,
TTIo Opuimpionn Oonn 65.
Could I get but leave to argue,
Or a sight of the crown,
Sassenachs I would leather,
As I would leather an old brogue,
Through bogs and through forests,
Through thorns on a foggy day ;
And it is so I would drive them,
My Druiminn Donn oge.
I should further mention, that a ballad, given as a translation of this old song, will be
found amongst the poems of the late J. J. Callanan, and also in Mr. C. G. Duffy's interest-
ing volume " The Ballad Poetry of Ireland ;" but this ballad, if not a translation of a dif-
ferent original from that above given, is so freely rendered, that it can hardly claim to be
more than an embodiment of the leading thought in the rude song of the Irish poet. As
usual, however, with Mr. Callanan's translations of Irish songs, it has the rare merit of pre-
serving the rhythmical features of the original so perfectly, that it can be sung to the old
melody with a fitness not inferior to that of the Irish Avords.
St mm nn nlit SGrggnrmnn, mmx\\ unit nut.
I am indebted to my accomplished young friend, the poet, William Allingham, now Comp-
troller of Customs at New Ross, for the very characteristic air which follows, together with
the annexed fragment of the old words now sung to it. They were learnt by that gentle-
man in the county of Donegal, and it is, most probably, to that locality that both the tune,
and the Scoto-English words adapted to it, owe their origin.
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
117
It was an old beggarman, weary and wet,
And down by the fireside he sat ;
He threw down his bags and his oaken staff,
And merrily he did sing.
Chorus. With his pipe in his jaw, and his jaw full of smoke,
And his beard that hung down to the breast of his cloak,
His bag on his back, and his staff in his hand,
He's a jolly old beggarman, 0 !
My dear, said he, if I were as free
As when I first came to this countrie,
I'd dress you up all beggarly,
And away Avith me you should gang.
Chorus. With his pipe in his jaw, &c.
'end. 18 inches.
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5lurimt rnllahif.
I have already given, in page 73, a specimen of the ancient lullaby music of Ireland, and
directed attention to the strong affinity which it bears to the Eastern melodies of the same
class ; and I think I may now point to a similar affinity in the lullaby tune which follows.
The former air was obtained from the county of Limerick, and is, probably, peculiar to the
province of Munster. The air now given has been sent to me from the county of London-
derry ; and as there is every reason to assume that it is peculiar to the northern counties of
2n
118
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
Ireland, it may not be uninteresting to find such traits of Eastern character pervading airs
obtained from such widely separated localities : and I have little doubt that a similar affi-
nity will be generally found in the numerous airs of this kind which I have obtained from
various parts of Ireland, and which shall, from time to time, appear in this work. The
great number of airs of this class still preserved in Ireland is, indeed, a curious fact, and
cannot but be regarded as an evidence, if any evidence were required, of the universal love
for melody for which the Irish people were so remarkable, — a love which gave birth not
only to this numerous class of lullaby melodies, but to other classes applicable to all possible
purposes with which the employment of melody was compatible. How far Continental
countries may be able to produce similar evidences of such a universal use of melody, it is
beyond my purpose, as well as my ability, to inquire ; but I may remark that, except
among the Scoto-Hibernian race of the Highlands, I have found no evidence to prove the
existence of such pervading uses of melody in any other portion of the British islands.
And — reverting to the particular class of melodies now under consideration — even amongst
the Highland airs published, I can only recollect to have met with two of such airs, — one
in Fraser's, and the other in M'Donald's collection ; and neither of these appear to me at all
comparable with any of the Irish, either for beauty of melody, or fitness to the object for
which they were intended. Of English, or Lowland Scottish, lullabies, I cannot remember
to have seen a single example ; and among the carefully collected published tunes of Wales
I have found but one, — " The lullaby song which the Welsh nurses sing to compose their
children to sleep." This melody, as far as it goes, has certainly a soothing tone, not unsuited
to its purpose ; but composed, as it is, like the well-known air by Rousseau, on only three
consecutive notes of the scale, and forming a strain of only four bars, it is, as a melody, still
less comparable than the Highland lullabies with any — even the least beautiful — of the Irish.
It may, no doubt, be objected that numerous airs of this class may possibly exist both in
Scotland and England, though they have been as yet unsought for with a view to publica-
tion; and against such objection I have no desire to contend; for, even in Ireland, where
such melodies are abundant, one only, as far as I can recollect, has been hitherto published.
In the collections of Bunting there is not an air of this class to be found.
f • = Pend. 12 inches.
r * tor r • r T • itf fir • '
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
119
With respect to the general characteristics of this class of Irish tunes, I should remark
that they are all either in common or in six-eight time, and never in triple time, properly so
called. They are, occasionally, composed of a single strain, but more usually of two ; and,
in all instances, the melody, however tender and soothing in its expression, is never dull or
heavy, but is marked by that rapid flow which is so distinguishing a feature in Irish music.
I have only to add, that I am indebted for this air to Miss J ane Ross, of Newtown-lima-
vady, in the county of Londonderry.
€mk Ijmrc ; nr, 1%it % xm in tjje 3-taiug mttjj mq Irnrt full nf Wm.
The very characteristic air which follows is, probably, one of northern origin ; as I have
never heard it sung in either the Munster or Connaught provinces, while I have found it
to be a well-known melody, in some, at least, of the counties of Ulster. It was noted about
forty years ago from the singing of the late Mr. Joseph Hughes, of the Bank of Ireland,
who had learnt it, in his childhood, in his native county of Cavan, where it was then sung
to an Anglo-Irish street-ballad, of which three stanzas have been given me by Mr. Curry ;
but, Avith the exception of the first line, above given as a name, they are quite worthless.
-
120
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
ORO TTIOR a ttioirir
(Dm 3#nr, <d Mmin.
Of several settings which I have obtained of the following air, the oldest is one from the
O'Neill MS. of 1787, of which I have already more than once made mention. In that MS.
the name given to the melody is "Down among the Ditches 0," which, as Mr. Curry
acquaints me, was given to it from an old street ballad of a gay, but somewhat licentious
character. The following older Irish song, which was also sung to this air, is not entirely
free from a similar objection; but, as an illustration of the playful satire of an Irish pea-
sant girl — among her female companions — upon a lover who had annoyed her by failing in
his appointment, it is not wanting in interest. The words of this old song, which were
partly remembered by Mr. Curry, were obtained in a more perfect state from the Clare
peasant, Teige Mac Mahon.
Gp beap an buacail pdiOin,
Ld aonaig nó mapasaó;
lp ni Deipe nd Id mdpca,
Qp caob a bdioin íompama.
Ópó 'lilóp, a Tilóipín,
Opó lilóp, an o-ciocpaió cú,
Ópó TÍlóp, a lílóipín,
Q cúilín óip, an o-ciocpaió cú?
Handsome is the boy Paddy,
Upon a fair or market day ;
But not handsomer than on a March day,
"When gliding in his rowing-boat.
Oro Mor, O Mohin,
Oro Mor now will you come,
Oro Mor, O Moirin,
O, golden-haired one, will you come ?
Q Oúbaipc pé ip 'oúbaipc pé,
lp Oúbaipc pé 50 O-ciocpaó pé;
Q léine bí $an pmúodil,
'Sa piúD an ní 00 conjaib é.
Ópó 'ltlóp, a Tilóipín, -\c
Q Oúbaipc pé 'p 00 §eall pé,
lp 'Oúbaipc pé 50 D-ciocpaó pe;
Q pcocaióe bí jan upaó,
'Sa piúo an ní 00 consaib é.
Ópó 'rilóp, a TÚóipín, -\c
Q Oubaipc pé 'p 00 jeall pé,
lp 'oubaipc pé 50 b-ciocpao pé;
Qcc an cappais a m-béal Oóipne
Do buaileab annp a mullac arp.
Ópó 'íilóp, a TÍlóipín, -|c.
a oúbaipc pé, 'p 00 §ealt pé,
lp 'oúbaipc pé 50 O-ciocpaó pé:
Qcc poll 00 bí ap a bpípce
lp OuaOap caic a comaipe.
Opó 'ltlóp, a TÍlóipín, ic.
Q Oúbaipc pé íp t>o geall pé,
lp 'oúbaipc pé 50 O-ciocpaÓ pé:
'Smap a O-cíge pé an Id geall pé,
50 m-bdióceap annpa cupaé é.
lp 6pó 'lilóp, a lilóipín, -]c.
He said and he said,
And he said that he would come ;
But, his shirt not being smoothed,
That it was that hindered him.
Oro Mor, O Mohin, &c.
He said, and he promised,
And he said that he would come ;
But, his stockings were not darned,
And that it was that hindered him.
Oro Mor, O Moirin, &c.
He said, and he promised,
And he said that he woidd come ;
But the rock that's in Beal Boirney
"Was hurled upon the top of him.
Oro Mor, O Moirin, &c.
He said, and he promised,
And he said that he would come ;
Oro Mor, O Moirin, &c.
He said, and he promised,
And he said that he would come ;
And if he comes not on the promised day,
May he be drowned in the curach.
And oro Mor, O Moirin, &c.
\
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
121
On this song Mr. Curry has favoured me with the following remarks : —
" It will be seen from the chorus to these verses that the present song is not the origi-
nal one. It is addressed by a girl to a boy, but the chorus is addressed to a girl, named
Mor (Moria), and, by way of endearment, diminished to Moirin (Moreen) ; and I may re-
mark that this name, Mor, is one of historical fame and noble distinction in Ireland. It is
obvious, therefore, that the writer of the present song took the old tune, and, along with it,
the incongruous chorus ; but this was nothing unusual. — See the Gra ma chree do chooleen, &c.
" It is evident, from the sarcastic bitterness of the last three verses, that the girl had sus-
pected that Paddy's breach of promise arose from other causes than those she jocularly
pretended to find for it. The language is very good, and the song appears to belong to
the borders of the counties of Clare and Galway. Beal Boirney is on the Clare side of the
Bay of Galway, which shows that the faithless Paddy belonged to the former county, whilst
the disappointed girl must have belonged to the other."
r * = Pend. 14 inches
-bit
Allegro.
cres.
^ 1
t — m-^
r -r •
|E
'^J J
—
J r
9 IT
cres. *
._-] — *
-■^rm- — 1
1 P d
----- " I dim.
2^
ft
saób ní paelcuu.
The following beautiful and characteristic melody was noted in 1839, at the Maam Hotel,
in " The Joyce Country," county of Galway, from the singing of the late Patrick Coneely,
the Galway piper, and also from the singing of some of the female peasants of that
2 i
122
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
romantic district, to which, as it was said, the air properly belonged. Of the words sung
to it — an Irish love-song — I neglected then, unfortunately, to make a writing, and I have
never since had an opportunity for doing so.
It will be perceived that this air belongs to that peculiarly Irish class of narrative melo-
dies of which I have already treated, and which I have illustrated by so many previously
unpublished examples.
• = Pend. 16 inches.
Andante. J)
r
cres.
fdim. J
—m a -
J r r
cculleaca ÓÚ151D ulcfó.
Cjí 33ngs of Ulster.
The following dance-tune was noted from the playing of the late Patrick Coneely in 1839 ;
and, as he stated, it is a tune of Connaught origin. This statement has been subsequently
corroborated by other pipers, as well as by fiddlers from that province.
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
123
Pend.lO
inches. , / * "~N
é—é-J^r^-
/— • -\
U
ft**
Alleqro. f
T- ~*~ f~ f-
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r r ^
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LI 1 — -*^3i
'-f% fji n=p
i rnjv n—
i[r r r •
Jto? nnnstrrtnintíi.
The following is one of the many airs which, in my boy-days, I noted from the singing of
the Dublin street ballad-singers, and of which I often — as in the present instance — neglected
to record their ballad names, considering such names as recent, and, from the usual worth-
lessness of the songs from which they were borrowed, of no value.
Pend. 12 inches. r\
<
1
• •
u
Andante.
— M 1 —
0
4
r— 4
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124
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
óró a éumaiN 51U (Dm tjnm fair toil m».
Having, at page 82, already treated, at some length, of the ancient spinning-wheel tunes,
of which very many are still preserved in the western and southern counties of Ireland, I
have but little to remark in connexion with the following simple melody, which is one of
the same class, but of a somewhat less lively character than the airs of this kind already
given. One remark, however, I would fain offer, namely, that I am not unaware that, to
the mere musician, such very simple ancient airs can possess but little, if any, interest ; and
that a single specimen of the class would, by most persons, be deemed sufficient for the
purpose of illustration. But, I trust it has been already perceived that my object in the
prosecution of this work has not been limited to the preservation of melodies of sufficient
beauty to extort the admiration even of minds trained into, and confined by, conventional
predilections ; but, on the contrary, that it has been my anxious desire to preserve in all
classes of our melodies such airs as might, in any way however slight, serve to illustrate
the peculiar nature of the Irish mind, and the history of the Irish race in by-gone times.
And though the finer melodies of my country, from their singular depth of feeling and
beauty of construction, must necessarily always possess a higher and more universal interest,
yet the simpler, and perhaps more ancient, melodies, designed to lighten the burden of daily
labour, and to give joy to life, can never be deemed of little value by the enlightened in-
vestigator of the history of the human race, or be felt of little interest by the sensitive and
philosophical lover of national melody.
I have already remarked that this spinning-wheel tune is of a less lively character than
the specimens previously given — indeed, I might have added, than the generality of such
tunes — and the words sung to it have a corresponding character. The melody is, in fact, one
used as a medium for carrying on the ordinary chit-chat or gossip of the girls or women at
their occupation. In the mode, however, of carrying on such gossip, there is but little, if
any, difference from that of the livelier example already given, — as will be seen from the
annexed words supplied to me by Mr. Curry, and which, together with the melody, have
been partly obtained from the singing of the Clare peasant, Teige Mac Mahon. In both, a
dialogue is carried on extemporaneously, but regulated by an established formula, and con-
trolled by a necessary attention to rhythmical structure ; and the formation of the verses
is facilitated by a constantly recurring burden, or chorus, in which the company can join,
and which allows time to the solo singer to prepare or compose the verse necessary to the
completion of each stanza or strain. But, as will be seen, there is one striking peculiarity
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
12.5
in these words, and this occurs in the concluding stanza, namely, that the singer conti-
nues to compose and sing on for a considerable length of time, attentive, indeed, to the
rhythm of the verses, but wholly regardless of the length of the tune, the middle phrase of
which she has to repeat, over and over, till her inventive or descriptive powers are exhausted.
Ópó a óumam §il, ip fopó a §ile 51I,
Cé hi an bean 05 do póppap an lnit> peo?
Opo a cumain 51I, a uain 'pa $pd&.
Ópó a cumain gil, ip íopó a gile 51I,
TTIdipe ní Cléipe, Go péip map t>o cuisimpe.
Opó a cumain 51I, a uam 'pa spdo.
Ópó a óumain gil, ip íopó a £ile 51I,
Cé hé an peap 65 íonap buaileab an ponap aip?
Opo a cumain 51I, a uam 'pa épdó.
Ópó a óumain 51 1, ip íopó a §ile 51I,
Sedan 6 Ceinnéioig, 00 péip map a cuisimpi.
Opó a óumain 51 1, a uam 'pa gpdó.
Ópó a cumain 51I, ip íopó a jile
Cao í an cóip pópOa pagaió ap an lanamum?
Op6 a cumain 51I, a uain 'pa §pdó.
Opó a cumain 51I, ip íopó a §ile 51I,
Cocc óá céo Oéj, pd clúth seal 50 hiomalaio,
bpuic geala lín, agup puim Oo jeal pluioeana;
Coilci óon c-píoOa, ap Oaoipe 'cd 'Luimnec;
Comnleóipíóe 6ip ann, apbopOaib a jliopcapnaig;
Qip5eaO ip op maic, a b-póca 50c n-Oume aco;
CuiOeaóca paoici, na O-cimceall jan uipeapbaib,
lp juióimpi jobuan, ip 50 m-buaiócep an cluice led
Opó a cumain 51I, a uam 'pa $pdó.
Oro thou fair loved one, and ioro thou fair dear one,
Who's the young woman that's to be married this
Shrovetide ?
Oro thou fair loved one, thou lamb and thou love.
Oro thou fair loved one, and ioro thou fair dear one,
Mary O'Cleary, according as I understand.
Oro thou fair loved one, thou lamb and thou love.
Oro thou fair loved one, and ioro thou fair dear one,
Who's the young man that is struck at so luckily?
Oro thou fair loved one, thou lamb and thou love.
Oro thou fair loved one, and ioro thou fair dear one,
John O'Kennedy, according as I understand.
Oro thou fair loved one, thou lamb and thou love.
Oro thou fair loved one, and ioro thou fair dear one,
What nuptial suit shall be found for the couple?
Oro thou fair loved one, thou lamb and thou love.
Oro thou fair loved one, and ioro thou fair dear one,
A twelve-hundred tick, with white feathers filled ;
White linen sheets, and white blankets abundant ;
A quilt of fine silk, the dearest in Limerick;
Candlesticks of gold upon tables a glistening ;
Good gold and silver in their pockets a jingling ;
A plentiful board, and a cheerful gay company,
And I fervently pray that they gain the victor}-.
Oro thou fair loved one, thou lamb and thoulove.
It should be remarked that, in such songs as the above, when the young woman named
for marriage is not approved by the leading singer, she puts the interrogatory as to the
young man in the following words : —
Cé hé an peap 65, íonap buaileao an bonop aip?
Who is the young man that is struck with misfortune ?
mo sRáósa an jug ttiór is é Iór Stair tn rar tin big 3ng, aú it foil.
The characteristics of the following beautiful, and, in my opinion, very ancient melody, sus-
tain, as I think, very strongly the traditional belief connected with it, namely, that it is an
air of Connaught origin, and, more particularly, belonging to the pre-eminently musical
2 K
126
4
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
county of Mayo. It was noted during the summer of 1839, from the singing of the Galway
piper, the late Patrick Coneely, who sang it to Irish words very little expressive of the ten-
der and impassioned sentiment of the melody, — as may be gathered from the line above
given, which I have been constrained to preserve as a name for the air.
9 = Pei
/
id. 10
'nckes.
P — v*-
I
4
4
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4h
An
danie.
1 r
-i — m-
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Zr=- dii
T — r
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cres.
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i
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1 f
9 — «-
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ere.
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dim.
— ^ *
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— j — i
1 r r r 'J
— c
J
n • 1
1 fl-l-fl 1 ., =
rH
if*'
-f-
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
L27
ft Dnnblr 3ig— Jíamt vmaúméí
The fine old dance-tune which follows was noted, in 1852, from the playing of Patrick Hurst,
a fiddler from the county of Leitrim, to which locality, as he assured me, the tune properly
belongs. Unlike the great majority of the dance-tunes of the Munster counties, which are
obviously bagpipe compositions, this melody, as its characteristics clearly indicate, had a
harp or fiddle origin, and it would be wholly unsuited to the peculiar nature and powers
of the national wind instrument; — in truth, it is very much in the style of Carolan's best
jigs and planxties, and may very possibly be a work by that prolific composer. The name
of this tune was unfortunately unknown to, or forgotten by, the fiddler from whose playing
it was noted.
pueab ciNNsa m-oL Inring into tip Drink.
The following is another of the beautiful melodies collected in the county of Mayo, by Mr.
Patrick J. O'Reilly, of "Westport, and which, as I have already stated, have been kindly
placed at my disposal by that gentleman. It will be seen that it belongs to that numerous
class of narrative airs of which I have already given so many examples; and also, that it
«
128
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
bears a strong general resemblance to the melody called " The Young Man's Dream," and
now better known as " The Groves of Blarney," or " The last Rose of Summer."
i r
1 — = ^1
cres. ^ > w cf?w. r ifrm.
KJ
i
Til
J-3
i
3
=
to*
Bf ^ u
Jta cnnsrtrtaiiitii.
For the graceful melody which follows, as well as for many other airs of equal beauty, I
am indebted to the kindness of my respected friend Mrs. Close, the relict of the estima-
ble and deeply lamented J. S. Close, Esq., Q. C. The air was learnt by that lady, many
years ago, in her native county of Galway ; but, unfortunately, she cannot now remember
its name, which was an Irish one.
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
129
r
Pend. 20 inches.
1 0 \ r >'
i r
[m4
Allegretto.
-J — J —
3=.
ff r p
— m 0 — r
# M -
fe=pÉ
A'; J >J
I hf fn ]
S
1
# 0 9 0
i
m
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0
cr&?. - ~~r r r~
1 — J —
ft
-0 — 0-
— « —
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? vH^^W-^- * . p— h — P — — P — - — * d
tr
tf
9±±
0 0 \ 0
dim.
m
cres.
TTfHT
J 1 f r p -
1
r '
LJ-
~^/c?-e
M
^~ *^ —
í t r
f=g=N
fr
p-
1
■if
mi.
P1
1 " ;
— #
1 I •
1 — 1 ■
— c—
— 0—
hi
h
2l
130 ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
Jlnnre nmukxA
The following melody, which is strongly marked with a hymnal character, was noted in
my boy-days ; but, unfortunately, I neglected to preserve its name, and have now no re-
collection as to how or where it was procured.
^ = Pend. 26 inches.
Andante. | 1 1 cres.
e» «— <a 1 ' 1 ' é i 1
bimiD as ÓL, 05 ól, 05 ól. Jtt us Ire kinking, kinking, kinking.
The lively and very characteristic melody which follows was noted last year from the sing,
ing of the Clare peasant, Teige Mac Mahon, and it was remembered by Mr. Curry, to whom
I am indebted for a copy of the words now commonly sung to it. These words, which were
written, about the year 1780, by the eccentric poet, Owen Roe O'Sullivan, are of little
merit ; but they preserve the chorus or burden of an older, and perhaps the original, Irish
song ; and they are not wholly devoid of interest as exhibiting the qualifications on the
possession of which the hedge schoolmasters — the Irish lyrists of the last century — were, as it
may be assumed, but too generally accustomed to pride themselves.
My name is O'Sullivan, a most, eminent teacher;
My qualifications will ne'er be extinct ;
I'd write as good Latin as any in the nation ;
No doubt I'm experienced in arithmetic.
CHORUS.
lr bímío 05 61, 05 61, 03 61; And let us be drinking, drinking, drinking;
lp bímíb 05 61 'pa pósa na m-ban ; And let us be drinking, and kissing the women;
bfmto 05 61 'ra painnceaó le ceól; Let us be drinking, and dancing to music ;
'Sndpb-peapp'beicasólndbtípO'pdgailóoncapc? Is't not better be drinking than dying of thirst?
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
131
I'd write a good letter, on paper or parchment ;
I'd construe an author, and give the right sense ;
I court the fair maidens, unknown to their parents,
And gaze on their charms without evidence,
lp bímío 05 61, ic. -]c.
I'm counted the valiant at congregations ;
I beat the courageous, and humble the bold ;
No doubt I'm descended of noble Milesians ;
By heroic fame my name is enrolled,
lp bímío 05 61, -]c. -|C.
I am a proficient in bright elocution ;
By Prosody's rules I govern my tongue ;
I journalize book-keeping without confusion ;
I'm son to the Muses from Parnassus sprung,
lp bímío 05 61, -\c. -jc.
Pend.Ti inches. ' ' I »'
f I tilt
\ \ \
mm
' ' ' r
» t »
> dim
H — p Xf* i
t
«i JJJS
" chorus. J* — ^ :=^-
-g —
m
— 1 r*r — f
-J — J-^-J-<
-J-
i
l — J
J r
dm.
* :
1 cres.
frh
dim. £ p 1
J
1
**=!
-J
=4^
4
J
#
4
1 u
In connexion with the above air, I may remark that vocal melodies of this spirited cha-
racter would appear to have been anciently more abundant in the county of Clare, than,
perhaps, in any other county of Ireland. And if this be the fact, and viewing national me-
lody as an exponent of national character, it is only, perhaps, such as we might naturally
expect to find in the ancient territory of the eminently manly tribe of the Dal Cass, whose
descendants still constitute the great majority of the people of that county.
132 ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
The ploughman's whistle which follows was given me by my valued friend and brother artist,
Mr. Thomas Bridgford, R.H. A., a gentleman who combines with his high artistic talents
the not unusual concomitant of a fine musical taste. It was learnt in his boyhood from
the whistling of one of his father's workmen, at his nursery gardens near Dublin ; but, as
Mr. Bridgford has no recollection as to what part of Ireland the man came from to the
metropolis, I am unable to offer even a conjecture as to the county or province to which
the air properly belongs.
(Dlj, rnnsr qimrsrlf, it's Cnlii tjnn'flf got.
The Irish name given me for the following characteristic air I have deemed it best to sup-
press, and this without any reluctance, as it was obviously not its original one. The Eng-
lish name above given I have taken from a modern Anglo-Irish street-ballad also sung to
it, and quite worthless, as will be seen from the following stanza : —
" Oh, rouse yourself, it's cold you've got ;
And if you are sick, it's tea you want ;
Go to your bed, and keep yourself warm,
Until you've got rid of that cold you've got."
It will be perceived that the construction of this melody is quite similar to that of the
air called A Dhonnchadh na bi bagarthach, — or, "Oh, Donogh, don't be threatening," — pub-
lished by Bunting in his first and second collections, and now better known from Moore's
words, " Nay, tell me not dearest ;" nor are the two airs unlike in their tone of senti-
ment. The air here given was set from the singing of Mary Madden, a poor blind woman
from the city of Limerick.
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND. 133
#. = 2
2 jjjj^.ii
*- * — ■*--*>-*
Allegro. r
■fp LP
j ;
r r - r
■> erf
s.
#-#-» —
• J
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— Hs-
^ 1 " # 1 LLI L
L
^Ttt
r ^f^* • -
J^J U 1 L
— # — ; —
9-
lírnralitrni Ulnssmn.
The following, which has been for a long time one of the most popular of the Irish reel-
tunes, is most probably of Munster origin. It is equally a favourite with the pipers as with
the fiddlers throughout Ireland ; but its peculiar features clearly indicate a violin parentage.
X1
snc?. 12 inches. ^ ^
33pfe
Q
j^3.
Allegro, mf
r*-f r f
\
— b 4 — •
'e-l [J 'eJ L
•
0 *
W 1 =
^—t f t ri» f f 1
Tf nf f— i
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: — — f~*~
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EH
—,
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—
==fc=
134
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
(Dlj, Snjjnnij, kmú M)mi\.
The air which follows was set in the county of Londonderry in the summer of 1837, and
is very probably a tune of Ulster origin. It was sung to an Anglo-Irish peasant-ballad, of
which I have only preserved the following quatrain : —
Oh, Johnny, dearest Johnny,
What dyed your hands and clothes?
Pie answered him as he thought fit,
" By a bleeding at the nose."
I regret to add, that I have been unable to ascertain the original name of this melody,
' or any other one than that here given to it.
* = Pend. 15 inches.
m
4 0 0
Andante. mf
fcfe
(2 PP cm. p N
W+-TÍ
ft
«J *
^1 ^
<Djr, lljffln, mq itnnr, bmj mill qnn to niiirc?
The following air was noted above forty years ago from the singing of the Dublin ballad-
singers to a street-ballad then popular, but of which I have been unable to procure a copy.
The tune has been already printed — but very incorrectly — in O'Farrell's " Pocket Com-
panion for the Irish or Union pipes."
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
135
Theee are not many Irish tunes better known than the following one ; but this popularity,
it is probable, is much. less ascribable to a perception of its tender sweetness than to the
rude enjoyment afforded by the very objectionable and ill-suited Irish song, to which for
the last two centuries it has been coupled, and which has given to it the only name by
which it is now known. Mr. Curry, indeed, tells me that he has seen a political Irish song,
which was written to it, about the year 1770, but of which he has no copy, and can now
only remember a line or two. The air has been already published, but in a very rude way,
in a small collection of Irish melodies called "The Hibernian Muse and it has been made
a popular reel-tune by the Irish fiddlers.
136
• = Pend. 12 inches.
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
-fHt — f^T
Q
\ Andante.
1 ! J*
r —
1 5-
i r r V
r r rj
1 Jim. kj |
*
0
— — v ■- 1
— m
#
J J- Pf r
i r ^rr
r>ffTirff>
- ■ J V 1
' e ' j~j-=-
fr f frr*
1 > 1 dim. p|
/
,J?
_lSsj 5S 1
•— =1 —
— V
^ _.
tíífcf — —
C7 1
pi
U
# # — e
-9% ttPrft
*
-rfr-i
§ misty tju $xm\ mimlil takt tjiBm.
Though the following pleasing air lias a somewhat modern and English character, it has an
antiquity in Ireland of, at least, more than a century, and has been associated with street-
ballad words of unquestionably Irish origin, as their first quatrain will be sufficient to show.
" I wish the French would take them
That sent my love away,
And send their boats a sinking
To the bottom of the say" [sea].
This melody is one of the many airs noted long ago from the singing of an old lady
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
137
a very near connexion of my own, and which she had learnt in her girlhood from the poor
woman Betty Skillen, of whom I have already frequently spoken.
= Pend. 18 inches.
y:;j'r-r • 'r--; g'r • r • frVf
Allegro.
r
1
J 1 7 * -
<)•:,!; # -J —
■J
9-
cres.
r r •'
r >r •'
r • r 1 r • r 1 ' ^ •
r • f- t r •
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0
— •
•
4
=1—
— #
h— f — i
C • r
i ^
1
■
• =|-
-^-f =1-
arc cao5 Ma carcRcnse bailee. %\ tip #fitt nf tjjr tSjjife Enrk.
The beautiful melody which follows was set about forty years ago from the whistling of the
late Mr. Joseph Hughes, of whom I have already had occasion to make frequent mention
as the source from which I have derived many of the fine airs in this collection. Like most
of the tunes so obtained, this had been learnt by Mr. Hughes in his native county of Cavan ;
but, as I have subsequently found, it is not an unknown melody in Connaught : and, in
the valuable collection of unpublished Irish tunes of my friend, Mr. J. E. Pigot, I have met
with a setting of this air, made in that province in the year 1846 or 1847, by the late Mr,
William Forde, of Cork. This setting, however, though, in its general features, essentially
the same air as my own, differs from it a good deal in some of its cadences ; and, as it is
equally strongly marked with genuine Irish expression, I shall also give it a place here,
not only as a version deserving of preservation, but as an interesting example of the
mutations to which Irish melody has been so often subjected.
2 N
138 ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
9 = Pend. 12 i
All
""ETf g rE^f
'.gretto. mf
frk-3
T'M i r el
dm.- - - - J - v-
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^ J J" J J^-
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— i — g-f-aJ * j «-
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9 9 9 9 m W
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gj i [ i i . ?i f=p
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9 9 9 9 9 9 9
5 P — 0-\ — L
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cres.
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■ — * — * — f — * *\ J-
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ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
139
fj 1
0 —
V"
1 ?
J —
— &=
« — j j —
• — 0 • 0
v » 1
f ^
-J- -i-
\
mm
f>ubj ^ j
r> j ^
i
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* =j — Sh— ^
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am.
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1 ■ — i
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i-fc
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The following is the setting alluded to as made by the late Mr. "William Forde; and in
this it will be perceived that the principal differences, from the setting just given, occur in
the second section, or part, of the air.
140
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
In connexion with the two settings of this beautiful air, now for the first time printed,
it should be observed that another setting of this tune, under the same name, has been pub-
lished by Bunting, in his last collection ; but it is so different in its notation and general
character, that, perhaps, none but an analytical musician would be likely to perceive any
affinity between them. And here I might be tempted to discuss the singularly untenable
theory so dogmatically put forward by Bunting in his Preface to the last of his publications,
namely, that " a strain of music, once impressed on the popular ear, never varies." But as
this assertion has been already very ably combated by Mr. George Farquhar Graham, both
in his Introductions to " The Songs of Scotland," and to " The Songs of Ireland," — and as its
untruthfulness, as regards the melodies of Ireland, has been abundantly shown in the pro-
gress of this work, by the different versions which I have so often deemed it desirable to
give of the same tunes, I do not feel it necessary to take any further notice of a proposition
so obviously fallacious ; nor should I have deemed it worthy of even this passing allusion,
had it emanated from a less distinguished authority. But, as a further and very striking
example of the unsoundness of Mr. Bunting's theory, I shall here insert his setting of this
melody, which, together with the harmony attached to it, I have been kindly permitted
by the publisher, my friend Mr. George Smith, to transfer from the last volume of the
Bunting collections to this work.
0, = Fend. 24 inches
d tenderly. dolee. cres.
Slow and tenderly,
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ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
141
Mr. Bunting tells us, in his Index to the names of his tunes, that the setting of this air, as
now given, was noted from a blind man at Westport, in 1802 ; and, assuming that the nota-
tion is a correct one, the remarkable dissimilitude in the character of the melody from that
of the two previous settings must necessarily surprise the musical reader ; the expression in
Mr. Bunting's version being abrupt and spirited, while, in the other versions, it is flowing
and tender, such as we might expect to find in a melody which had been adapted to an
impassioned love-song : and it is further remarkable that, though Mr. Bunting marks the
air as to be played " slow and tenderly," yet his determination of the time, by the pendulum
mark of twenty-four inches to the dotted crotchet, is utterly inconsistent with his previous
instruction. And hence it is not to be wondered at that Mr. Horncastle — who, in his work
called " The Music of Ireland," " London, 1844," has copied this air from Bunting's collec-
tion— had words written to it of a spirited character, called " The Fisherman's Song and
Chorus," and marked the air as to be sung " lively, but not too fast,"
Of the three dissimilar settings of this melody, now given, it may therefore be asked,
which should be considered as the most ancient and genuine ; and this is a question which
I should not venture to answer. Very probably, however, they are all but varied deriva-
tives from the following simpler, and, as I believe, more ancient air, which I have found
amongst my settings of melodies from the counties of Clare and Limerick, noted from the
singing of the peasants, Teige MacMahon and Mary Madden, of whom I have already spoken:
and if this opinion be well founded, it would follow that the oldest and most authentic of
these three versions of the melody would be that which has the closest affinity with the
parent air.
on curiiaiN leax an oióce úo do bí cú as an b-puiNNeói5 ^
ft a a .i á h M
9 = Pend. 30 inches
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53
2 o
142
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
The song which has given a popular name to this melody has been committed to writ-
ing for me by Mr. Curry ; and as it is not a composition of recent date, nor wanting in
interest as the love-song of a peasant girl, it has appeared to me to be not unworthy of pre-
servation, in connexion with the air to which it had been adapted.
Gfl curiiain leac an oióce úb
Do bí cú 05 an b-pumneói5,
J5an haca gan laimne
Dot)' oion, $an capos ;
Do pin mé mo Idrii cújac,
'Soo puj cíj uippe bappój,
lp o'pan mé aO' comluaoap
"Nó jup labaip an puipeój?
Do you remember that night
That you were at the window,
With neither hat, nor gloves,
Nor coat to shelter you ;
I reached out my hand to you,
And you ardently grasped it,
And I remained to converse with you
Until the lark began to sing ?
Qn curham leac an oióce ÚO
Do bí cú ajup mipe
Q5 bun an cpomn caoipcmn,
'San oioce 05 cup cmpne;
Do ceann ap mo ciocaib,
'S 00 piob geal bd peinm ?
'Sbeas 00 paoileap 'noióce úo
go psaoilpeaó dp 5-cumann.
Do you remember that night
That you and I were
At the foot of the rowan-tree,
And the night drifting snow ;
Your head on my breast.
And your pipe sweetly playing?
I little thought that night
Our ties of love would ever loosen.
O cumamn mo cpoióe 'pcij,
Cap oibce gap éigm,
'Nuaip luigpio mo muinncip,
Cum cainnce pe céile;
b:ab mo od Idim ao cimceall
'Smé 05 mnpin mo pjéil óuic
'Sgup bé Oo córiipdb puaipc mín caip
Do bean paóapc plaicip Oé óíom.
0 beloved of my inmost heart,
Come some night, and soon,
When my people are at rest,
That we may talk together ;
My arms shall encircle you
While I relate my sad tale
That it is your pleasant soil converse
That has deprived me of heaven
'Cd an ceme ^an coigilc
'San polup $an múcaó,
'Cd'n eocaip paoi an n-Oopup,
lp cappains 50 ciúin Í.
'Cd ma mdcaip na cobla,
Gjup mipi am othpecc;
'Cd m*poipciún am óopnn,
'Sme ullarh cum piúbail leac.
The fire is unraked,
The light unextinguished,
The key under the door,
And do you softly draw it.
My mother is asleep,
And I am quite awake ;
My fortune is in my hand,
And I am ready to go with you.
or caoo na caRRaije báme. ^mfo tjj? ttfjjite Unrk.
In connexion with the melody known by the above name, and of which I have just given
so many settings, I should not omit to state that the song which had given it this name is
also sung to, and has given name to, a different air, which is more generally known than
the other in most parts of Ireland. The air to which I now allude has been already twice
printed ; first, as set by myself — mdifferently enough, I must confess — in the collection of
Irish tunes published in 1806 by my early friend, the late Francis Holden, Mus. Doc. ; and,
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
1 13
secondly, in Mr. John O'Daly's recent publication, " The Poets and Poetry of Munster."
As, however, I have now, as I think, a somewhat better setting of this air than either of
those so printed, it appears to me desirable to give it a place in this collection, in company
with that other melody now known by the same name, and sung to the same words.
Of the popular Irish love-song to which these two melodies are sung, I have been unable
to obtain any copy worthy of preservation. A version of it has, indeed, been printed in
Mr. O'Daly's work; but, as Mr. Curry acquaints me, it is a compilation made up from
various songs, without preserving even an entire stanza of the original: and, in truth, this
appears evident enough, not only from the want of connexion in the thoughts, but even still
more from the general want of the proper rhythm and metrical construction required in
verses to be sung to any of the known versions of either of the melodies to which the song
has given a name. It should, perhaps, be further noticed that this song, though printed in
u The Poets and Poetry of Munster" has a northern origin assigned to it, and this on an
etymological foundation derived from its name. " Bruach and Carrick," writes Mr. O'Daly,
" are the names of two townlands lying contiguous to each other on the river Bann, and
forming a part of the demesne of Carrick Blacker, an ancient seat of the Blacker family,
near Portadown, in the county of Armagh ;" and thus it would follow that Bruach na Car-
raige Baine does not, as has been generally supposed, mean " The Brink of the White Rock,''
but the Bruach and Carrick of the river Bann ! Any comment on such an assumption is
unnecessary; and I shall only remark, that the true name of the song is not Bruach na
Carraige Baine, but Ar Thaobh na Carraige Baine.
144
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
4%t (T-ntjmlir 3?ni|.
For the set which I am about to give of the following Minister dance and ballad air — and
which is the best of many that I have procured — I am indebted to the kindness of my most
respected friend, the Lord Chief Baron of Ireland. This air is now usually known in the
southern counties by the name above given ; but it has an older Irish one, of which I once
made a note, which, however, has been unfortunately mislaid.
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oo cumpiNM-si péiN mo teciNab a coólaó 3 mnulii put mt| nam <Tl)iIti tn flrrp.
I have already, at page 73, and at page 117, in connexion with two ancient Lullaby airs,
directed attention to the striking affinity observable between them and the Eastern melo-
dies of the same class ; and I would apply the remarks then made to the beautiful nurse-
tune which I am now about to present, and which, I think, bears equally the stamp of a
remote antiquity. I would, moreover, add, that such affinity with Eastern melody is not
confined to the nurse-tunes of Ireland, but that it will be no less found in the ancient funeral
caoines, as well as in the ploughman's tunes, and other airs of occupation — airs simple
indeed in construction, but always touching in expression ; — and I cannot but consider it
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
145
as an evidence of the early antiquity of such melodies in Ireland, and as an ethnological
fact of much historic interest, not hitherto sufficiently attended to.
= Pend. 20 inches
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The nurse-tune now given, like the first of those already printed, was obtained from the
county of Limerick. It was noted last year, by Mr. Joyce, from the singing of a woman
named Cudmore, now living at Glenasheen, in the parish of Ardpatrick. From this woman
he also obtained the first of the following Irish stanzas now sung to the melody : the second
he got from a man named John Dinan in the same locality ; and the third and fourth were
given to me by Mr. Curry, who, in his youth, had been familiar with the whole song, as
sung in the county of Clare, but now distinctly remembers only those portions of it. I
should observe, however, that the first and second stanzas, according to his recollection of
them, differed a good deal from the version above given.
2 p
146
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
Do cuippmn-pi pém mo leanab a coólao,
'Sní map t>o cuippeao mnd na m-bobac,
pá púipín buióe ná a m-bpaclín boppaig,
Qcc a 5-cliabdn óip ip an gaoé ód bojaó.
Seó h-ín peó, h-uil leó leó,
Seó h-ín peó, ap cú mo leanab;
Seó h-ín peó, h-uil leó leó,
Seó h-in peó, 'pap cú mo leanab.
Do cuippinn-pi pém mo leanab a coólab,
La bpedg gpéine ítnp od noóluig,
Q 5-cliabdn óip ap úpldp pocaip,
paoi bappa na 5-cpaob ip an gaoé Ód bosao.
Seó h-ín peó, h-uil leó leó, ~\c.
Cooail a leinib 'p5uP Da coolaó pldn duic,
lp ap Oo coólaó 50 o-cujaip 00 pldmce.
"Ndp buailió cpeigiO nd jpeim an bdip cú,
J5alap na leanab nd'n bolgac gpdnna.
Seó h-ín peó, h-uil leó leó, -\c.
Cooail a lemib 'p5u? Da coólaó pldn buic
lp ap Oo coólaó 50 O-cujaip 00 pldince;
Qp Oo pmaoince 00 cpoibe ndp cpdiócean
lp ndp ba bean jan mac 00 mdéaip
Seó h-ín peó, h-uil leó leó, ic
I would put my own child to sleep,
And not the same as the wives of the clowns do,
Under a yellow blanket and a sheet of tow,
But in a cradle of gold, rocked by the wind.
Sho-heen sho, hoo lo lo,
Sho-heen sho, you are my child ;
Sho-heen sho, hoo lo lo,
Sho-heen sho, and you are my child.
I would put my own child to sleep,
On a fine sunny day between two Christmases,
In a cradle of gold on a level floor,
Under the tops of boughs, and rocked by the wind.
Sho-heen sho, hoo lo lo, &c.
Sleep, my child, and be it the sleep of safety,
And out of your sleep may you rise in health;
May neither cholic nor death-stitch strike you,
The infant's disease, or the ugly small-pox.
Sho-heen sho, hoo lo lo, &c.
Sleep, my child, and be it the sleep of safety,
And out of your sleep may you rise in health ;
From painful dreams may your heart be free,
And may your mother be not a sonless woman.
Sho-heen sho, hoo lo lo, &c.
In reference to the above and other Lullaby songs, still preserved in the county of
Limerick, Mr. Joyce makes the following remark : — " These songs, so far as I could learn
from a pretty extensive inquiry, were many of them very similar in ideas, expression, and
general character. The child was generally soothed to sleep with the promise of a golden
cradle — clmbán 01 p — rocked by the wind on a fine sunny day, under the shade of trees —
a combination of circumstances in perfect keeping with the poetical character of the Irish
peasantry. The verses were always followed by the burden ' Sho-heen sho,' &c. ; and, when
sung by a good voice, the whole melody and song must have had a powerfully soothing
effect."
baile pácRaic. Mhjptrirk.
The following spirited festive air is one of the many fine southern melodies communicated
to me, from the county of Kilkenny, by Mr. James Fogarty, who writes to me that "it was
a great favourite with the "Whiteboys about a hundred years ago ;" adding, that he is " cer-
tain that this martial, or festive air, is a very ancient Irish one" — and I have no doubt that
its antiquity is indeed considerable. The name of this air would indicate it to be of
Tipperary origin ; Ballypatrick being a village situated on the southern side of Slieve-na-
man Mountain, in the parish of Templehay, and barony of Iffa and Offa, — a district which
appears to have been rich in melodies of a superior character.
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= Pend. 9 inches.
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
i t I
147
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143
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
on Ion Ou5 'sqn smótaó.
Cljr Ukrkliira oé tip Cjjmslj.
The following air was set at the Claddagh of Galway, in the summer of 1840, from the
singing of Anne Buckley, — a poor woman of whom I have already made mention as a sin-
gularly sweet singer of our national melodies. The song which she sang to it, and which
gave its name to the tune, was an Irish one ; but I neglected at the time to write it down,
and I have never since met with any one by whom it was remembered.
In the last of Bunting's collections, an air is published to which is given the same name
as that of the present one ; but it is in triple time, and has no affinity of any kind with the
air now, for the first time, printed.
• = Pend. 18 inches
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Allegretto.
mirm-fTfi-rS Pit-fin
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Sis 3 malkrfl nut nut mimting, 3 jjrnrfl a nismal rrt[.
The following air is one of the collection, noted in the county of Wexford, and communi-
cated to me by Mr. Robert A. Fitzgerald, of Enniscorthy, to whose kindness in placing
them at my disposal I have already acknowledged myself indebted. It was sung to an
Anglo-Irish peasant ballad, the first line of which has been taken to give it a name.
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
149
* = Pend. 10 inches.
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Amongst the tunes still preserved of that very numerous class of Cardan's compositions to
which the term Planxty is usually applied, there is, as I have long thought, scarcely one
that better than the following illustrates the peculiarities of style, and the finer qualities of
genius, which so often distinguish the works of the last composer of Ireland. In this move-
ment we shall clearly perceive his abandonment of the regular rhythm, and the peculiar
tonalities which characterize the more ancient lively music of Ireland; and his imitation —
as far as he was able to imitate — of the characteristics of the gigas of his great Italian con-
temporary, Corelli, with whose works, as old Charles O'Conor tells us, "he was enrap-
tured." But, though his enthusiastic admiration of such Avorks was in itself an evidence of
genius, yet, as I have already stated, he never acquired the musical learning, and probably
never possessed the gravity of temperament, that might have enabled him to approach
the severe dignity and grandeur of style that characterize the works of that great composer ;
and it is only in such brilliant flashings of an exuberant liveliness, combined with a grace-
ful and imaginative flow of melody, as the following air exhibits — qualities instinctive in,
and undiscardable from, his own Irish nature — that he not only approached, but even occa-
sionally surpassed in beauty the works of a similar class which he had chosen as a model,
and not altogether unsuccessfully attempted to rival.
2Q
150
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
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It is singular that Bunting, who has republished so many of Cardan's compositions pre-
viously in print, should have passed over this fine tune, which appears in Neal's collection
of the works of that composer, published in their author's lifetime ; for, though that work
is now one of the most extreme rarity, I have reason to believe that a copy of it Avas in
Bunting's possession.
The simple surname, O'Flinn, prefixed to this tune in Neal's work, might lead to the
supposition that it was composed in honour of the chief of the ancient Connaught sept of
that name, and who, according to the old Irish usage, would be thus designated. But, as
it does not appear that in the names prefixed to Carolan's tunes this usage was followed,
except in two instances — " O'Conor" and " Mac Dermot-roe" — I cannot help thinking it at
least equally probable that it was composed for William O'Flinn, the butler at Alderíórd
House, in the county of Roscommon, the seat of the family of Mac Dermot-roe, in which
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
151
Carolan received his education and professional outfit, and to which, after all his peregrina-
tions, he returned to die. As may be easily conceived, in this hospitable mansion of a
generous patroness, a friendship would very naturally be formed between a man of Carolan's
habits and the person who had it in his power to contribute to or control their indulgence ;
and such friendly companionship would inevitably inspire a feeling of gratitude in a mind
so susceptible as the bard's. Nor are we without a historic evidence, indicative at least of the
existence of such a feeling in Carolan's mind. In a valuable MS. volume of collections for
a Life of Carolan, made for Myles John O'Reilly, Esq., of the Heath House, Queen's County,
and now, through the kindness of that gentleman, in my keeping, I find it stated that the
bard having, immediately before his dissolution, called for a drink, it was quickly brought
to him by the butler, William O'Flinn; and that having quenched his thirst, he addressed
the following quatrain in a clear and distinct voice to his friendly attendant, after which he
laid down his head, and immediately sank into the slumber of death : —
'Síubail mé cape 50 ceapc cpé cpiocaib Cuinn,
lp puaip mé mapapaig neapcrhap bpiogrhap arm;
Op bpig mo baipcij, ni b-puapap apiarh 'pa parm,
On cé coip5 mo cape 50 ceapc ace Uilliam ua pioinn.
I have travelled round right through Conn's country,
And I found myriads in it strong and valiant ;
But, by my baptism, I never found in any part,
One who quenched my thirst aright but William O'Flinn.
I should not, perhaps, conclude this notice without cautioning the reader against con-
founding the butler of Alderford with that other butler of the same surname to whom
Carolan, on being denied admittance to the cellar, addressed the following epigram, pre-
served by Walker in his " Memoirs of the Irish Bards."
TTlo ópeac, a ÓiapmuiO ui pioinn,
Ndc cu 'ca ap óopap lppinn;
Op cu tide léijpeaó neac aO' cóip,
1 n-dic a m-beceaó 'oo óóippeóip.
Alas, oh ! Dermod O'Flinn,
That 'tis not you who guard the door of hell ;
For 'tis you would let no one approach you,
Wherever you would be door-keeper.
Or, as it is thus successfully rhymed in Mr. Walker's work —
" What pity hell's gates are not kept by O'Flinn !
So surly a dog would let nobody in."
ooitiMaLL o srcaeo. DoEnrl (D'^rnrbji.
The following air has been taken from the very extensive and valuable collection of Irish
tunes which has been made by my friend, Mr. J. E. Pigot, and which he has kindly placed
at my disposal for the use of this work. The strong affinity which it bears to the very
ancient simple melody called " Molly Bán," — published by Bunting in his first collection, —
has induced me to give it a place here, as an interesting example of a result so frequently
obtained by an analysis of Irish melody, — namely, that an air of a more or less ornate
152 ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
character is often found to have been formed — sometimes, perhaps, unconsciously — upon
another of more primitive simplicity. This air was copied by Mr. Pigot from a MS. col-
lection of Irish tunes, belonging to Mr. Hardiman, the historian of Gahvay ; and, as I sup-
pose, it is a tune of Connaught origin.
51 (£nirk 3#nrrlj— jtor nnnsrrrtflinrii.
The spirited march-tune which follows is one of the many airs noted in the county of Wex-
ford, by Mr. Robert A. Fitzgerald, of Enniscorthy, and which he has so kindly communi-
cated to me for this work. Mr. Fitzgerald acquaints me that it was — originally, as he
believes — brought into that county by a Waterford person, who said it was a dance-tune,
and who gave it an Irish name which Mr. Fitzgerald now forgets, but which he expects he
shall be able to recover. Mr. Fitzgerald also communicates his conviction that the tune
must have been a march; and adds, with his peculiarly enthusiastic expression of feeling,
that it is "one of the finest that ever smoothed the road to battle!" The tune appears to me,
also, to have more of a march than a dance character ; but it has, most probably, been used
for both purposes ; for, as I have already stated, it is to such a usual transmutation that we
owe the preservation of so many of our old march-tunes, which were no longer required for
the purpose to which they owed their origin.
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
153
= Tend. 16 inches
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It will be perceived that I have marked the above air to be played in marching time ;
but by quickening the time it may be played as a dance-tune.
aN beau 05 uasal. €> tjntrag lú\
Amongst the numerous airs already given in this volume of that peculiar class to which I
have applied the term " narrative," there is not one that appears to me to be more strongly
impressed with an Irish character and tender feeling than the air I have here to present to
the public. Though hitherto unpublished in any form, and, indeed, apparently unnoticed
by the collectors of our music, it is still a well-known and greatly admired melody in, at
least, the counties of Clare and Limerick, to either of which I have little doubt its oridn
should be ascribed ; for of three settings of the air now, through the kindness of Mr.
Patrick Joyce, in my possession, two were noted by that gentleman, and the third copied by
him from an old MS. book of music, in the last-named county. Amongst these settings I
have found the usual want of a perfect agreement ; but as the differences which they pre-
sent are unimportant, I have not felt it necessary to print more than the one which appeared
to me to be the most authentic, and which, I think, will very truly preserve this interesting
melody. This version of the air was learned by Mr. Joyce from the singing of his father.
2r
Of the words now sung to this air in the Minister counties, Mr. Joyce has also given me
a copy, as taken doAvn by himself ; but it presents such an incongruous piece of patchwork,
half Irish, half English, collected, apparently, from recollections of various songs, that of
the Irish portion a single stanza is as much as I can venture to select from it. This stanza,
as Mr. Curry acquaints me, belongs to the old Irish song which has given name to the
melody, and which, though now rendered worthless by corruptions, was originally one of no
ordinary interest and merit.
'bt bean 65 uapal,
Seal bd luaó bom,
'Soo cuip pi puap 6am,
Céo pdpaoip $ép ;
lp bo jabap le pcuaipe
Q m-bailab muapa,
'Sjup oein pi cuaj óíom,
dp Idp an c-paogail.
Dd b-pagainn-pi a cenn púo
pé lia 'pan ceampull,
'S50 mbemn apip peal
Qp m'dóbap pém,
Do piúbalpamn sleannca
'5up beanna peariiap cnoc
5o b-pagainn mo pean-peapc
Qpíp óom' péip.
There was a young gentlewoman
And I, once talked of,
But she rejected me,
To my sharp grief ;
And I then took up -with
A city dasher,
Who made a jackdaw of me
Before the world.
But could I get her head
Beneath the gravestone,
And that I once more
"Were my own free self,
I would traverse valleys
And rough-topped mountains
To seek again more favour
From my old true love.
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
155
Amongst the doggrel English verses sung to this air, as taken down by Mr. Joyce, there
is a stanza which I am tempted to quote as an amusing example of the characteristic ex-
pression of tender sentiment, mixed with discordant levity and incongruity of thought,
which are so often found in the ordinary Irish peasant love-songs, composed in the English
language. Such incongruity, however, should, at least to some extent, be ascribed to the
corruptions incident to verses having only a decaying traditional existence amongst a class
of people still almost illiterate.
"Kilkenny town it is well supported,
Where marble stones are as black as ink ;
With gold and silver I will support you, —
I'll sing no more till I get some drink !
I'm always drinking, and seldom sober ;
I'm constant roving from town to town :
Oh, when I'm dead, and my days are over,
Come, Molly astoreen, and lay me down."
It seems sufficiently apparent that the above stanza was not composed in one of those
intervals of sobriety which the writer confesses to have been with him of rather rare occur-
rence.
a cúl dlaiNN oeas. <D tjjnn nf tip kttttiM Jtoir.
Separated from the preceding melody, the fine and truly Irish air which I have now to
place before the musical reader would probably be considered as a perfectly original one.
But, when brought, for the purpose of comparison, under immediate view with the former, —
though differing from it in time, rhythm, and even, to some extent, expression of senti-
ment,— its derivative affinity will, I think, be at once perceptible, and will place it amongst
the numerous airs so formed which are to be found in all parts of Ireland. And though
this acknowledgment of the existence of so many derivative airs may diminish, to some
extent, the number of the absolutely original melodies which might otherwise be claimed
for Ireland, it should not, I think, be considered as derogatory to the musical genius of
its people ; for such derivative airs exhibit the singular facility which the Irish possessed
in the adaptation of their favourite melodies to new songs of a form and character diffe-
rent from the older ones, and which enabled them to change the construction and sentiment
of those airs without destroying, or often even diminishing, their beauty.
This melody, together with the annexed stanza of the Irish song sung to it, was noted
by Mr. Joyce in the summer of the present year — 1854 — from the singing of Joseph
Martin, a peasant of the parish of Ardpatrick, in the county of Limerick.
a óúl dlainn Oeap, O thou of the beautiful hair,
Na put claon §lap, And of the glancing blue eyes,
'Sé mo cúmaó 'pno cpeac It is my grief and loss
Nac péioin That I cannot
Liom edlóó leac Elope with thee
Cap pdl amac, Out over the sea,
M6 r-ealao 05 quail Or, for a time, to traverse
pd pléibcib: The mountains :
156
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
'Cd mo cpoióe od plaó,
Tllap do pníiiipíóe 500,
Do cionn pcaparimin leac,
Qp aon cop;
'S 50 b-pa§aD bdp 50.11 pcao,
Tílupa Océóip liom peal,
Coip abann na Tti-bpeac
Q c'oonap.
My heart is being robbed,
As a gad would be twisted,
For parting thee,
On any account ;
And I'll die without delay,
It" thou wilt not come with me,
By the trout-river's bank
Alone.
• = Paid. 1-1 inches
jSnrai nnnsrrrtninrii.
I very much regret that I have been unable to ascertain the name of the following melody,
■which, as I conceive, is one of no ordinary beauty ; but as it appears to be still a well-known
air in the counties of Kilkenny and Tipperary, I trust that this want will be hereafter sup-
plied. Tins melody is one of those communicated to me by Mr. James Fogarty, of Tibrogh-
ney, immediately before his emigration to America ; and appended to it were the following
remarks : — " This is the melody of a much admired ancient song, and the music is thought
to be most enchanting. Several Irish songs were composed to it, bearing genuine marks of a
remote antiquity ; and also a love-song in English, said to have been composed by a poet
of Carrick, who joined the Irish army at Limerick in the time of AYilliam the Third.''
Having commented already more than once, in the preceding sheets, on the peculiarities of
the interesting class of melodies to which this air belongs, I need only add the expression
of my opinion that its age must be very considerable.
Xút\ 51tljrnn{: 51 f lanitif, (fnrnlnn.
Having already given insertion in this volume to two of Carolan's best, and yet least
known, Planxties, and endeavoured in connexion with them to analyze the characteristic
features — half imitative of Corelli, and half originating with the composer — for which they
are remarkable, I now, as a further illustration of those remarks, give a place to another
air of the same class, — an air equally impressed with those characteristic features, — and just
as little known, but which exhibits a greater gravity of character, and approaches more
closely to the sober dignity of Corelli's gigas, than, perhaps, any other composition of Caro-
lan's of the same class. As happened in the instance of one of the examples now alluded
to, I found this air in one of the rare collections of Carolan's tunes, published during their
author's lifetime, namely, that of Burke Thumoth, the date of which, according to Bunting,
is 1720.
The lady in whose honor this tune was composed was, unquestionably, as I think, Mary
Nugent, the wife of Francis, the twenty-first Baron of Athenry, who succeeded to the title
on the death of his father in 1709, and died in 1749. This lady, who, according to Lodge,
was the eldest daughter of Thomas Earl of Westmeath, was born in 1694, married in
1706, and died at Gal way in 1725, about five years after the tune which bears her name
had been printed.
2 s
Tend. 16 inches.
ANCIENT
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ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
159
btiaóaiN 'sa caca so 'pds mé.
Cjjis ttnw \m\m ranut' s 3 mnrritó.
The air which follows was set from the singing of the Clare peasant, Teige Mac Mahon, and
the accuracy of its notation has been sustained by a second setting made from the singing
of Mr. Curry. There is every reason to believe it a melody of Munster origin; arid from
the great number of songs which, as Mr. Curry acquaints me, have been written to it, it
must — at least in the southern counties bordering on the Shannon — have been, for a long
period, a very general favourite. That it is a very old air may therefore be fairly inferred ;
and this inference will be strengthened by the fact, that it seems to have been the parent of
several other airs — in themselves not modern — differing from it in expression and charac-
ter, but preserving such features of affinity as to leave but little, if any, doubt of their rela-
tionship. Such transmutations from parent airs, as already shown to some extent, have
been of singularly frequent occurrence in Irish melody ; and as the facts which they supply
are of so much importance in illustration of the nature and history of our music, that,
whenever discovered, they should not be left unnoticed, I shall, in immediate succession to
the present air, give two examples of airs obviously derived from it. I would further
remark, that the air called " Sly Patrick," in Moore's " Irish Melodies," and which is better
known by the name derived from the beautiful song — "Has sorrow thy young days
shaded" — which he wrote for it, appears to me, also, to exhibit, in many points, an affinity
with the present melcdv.
• - Pend. 10 inches..
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160 ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
Of the various songs sung to this melody, some are unfit for publication ; and of the
others, with the exception of the following, which has supplied me with a name for the air,
Mr. Curry only remembers some fragments.
bliaóam 'pa caca po 'póp mé,
'Sníop b'paOa liom Id nd mi,
G m-bocdinin clucap 50 pdpca,
Le beacuipce ap cldp jan pufm ;
Sedan 6 prrmglolla Idirh liom,
'Sé 05 peinm Rig Rtíó ap a pip;
'Sod m-beiTm ann 6 mug 50 O-ci mdpaó,
J5cm piappaig cao cd pe DioL
Qn cé 'sd m-bionn buaib acup caoipig
bíonn pé paoiceamail puaipc;
bíonn pé a b-pocaip na n-oaome,
'Sa haca map óíon ap a pcuaic:
pdpaoip Til map pin Do bimpi ;
'Spdm' opjail a bíonn pé 50 buan,
Qn púpa ndc maipe le mnaoi'p bic,
'Ssan opam acc cpian t>o'n gpuaig.
'Muaip céióim ap mapga an aonaig,
Le jappa glé gan gnó,
TTIa capall ni molcap a léimnig,
'Sní haipigcep 561m mo bó;
TTlo caoipig ni clumcep 05 méilig,
'Sní bameann Oam ^aet an pógrhaip;
OlpaO mo pjillins le plépiúp,
'Sní cuippeaO 'pan c-paogal ppeóip.
This time twelve months I married,
And thought not a day or month long,
In a well-sheltered cabin quite snugly,
With whiskey unmeasured on the board ;
Shane O'Finnelly near me,
A playing " Ree Raw" on his pipes ;
And if there from to-day till to-morrow,
No asking, " How much is to pay ?"
The man bless'd with cows and with sheep
Is always liberal and pleasant ;
He is always among the best people,
With his hat on to cover his head :
Alas ! it is not so with me ;
'Tis under my arm I ever have it —
The blanket ! which maid never liked —
And I having on but a third of my hair.
When I go to the market or fair,
With an idle and careless crew,
My horse is not praised for his leaping,
No lowing is heard from my cow ;
My sheep are never heard bleating,
The autumnal wnnds pass me by ;
I'll drink my shilling for pleasure,
And worldly cares never mind.
There is some philosophy in the above
love.
'Nuaip céióm óum aippmn 01a Dorhnaig,
lp éíóim na mndib 65a 05 cecc;
Qn uaip na paicim mo pcóipín,
5o péiOim puil c-ppón le pecc;
TTlo gpuais 05 imcecc na ceo oiom,
lp mmncinn cd bpeóice lag,
lp mi ni maippeao nd nómaib,
ITIana b-pag mipi pós 6m' peapc.
TTlo bpón jan mipe 'pan ppéipbean,
TTla mílce léi5 6 cuan,
Q n-oilémín opuiOce na 5-cpaoba,
TTlap a o-céib éin cum puain;
Qn die na m-beic neao 05 an phoeni^,
Qn piolap ap géij íp an cuac,
'S50 5-cuippmn Oo geapaib ap phoebup
Solap an laé 'cabaipc uamn.
stanzas: in those which follow there is only
When I go to Mass on the Sunday,
And see the young maidens come up ;
And when I see not my own love,
The blood from my nose quickly starts :
My hair in small fragments is going off,
My spirits are low and sad ;
A month I shan't live, nor a moment,
Unless I can kiss my sweetheart.
Mavrone that I'm not with my goddess,
Thousands of leagues from the shore,
In a close-wooded, pretty small island,
Where birds go at night to repose ;
Where the phoenix should have her nest,
The eagle and cuckoo the same branch ;
And then would I conjure bright Phoebus
To take his broad daylight away.
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
161
The following stanza is a fragment of a different song, but in the same strain.
Cd cion asup meap '5am péin opc,
Q cumainn gil, élai$ liúm;
'Smap a b-pagmait) ap b-pópaó 'n-eipinn,
Céiómít» lé céile anúnn.
"Nf 'I loinseap ap paipje caob linn,
Nd acapac paocaip óúinn,
Qcc bdioín no ccnce do óéanam,
Do bóappao pinn pém cap ppúil.
It's myself that both loves and esteems you,
O, dearest one, elope with me ;
And if we cannot get married in Erinn,
Then let us fly to some far country.
No ships on the sea are hard by us,
Nor have we aught else now to do,
But a small boat or cotty to make,
To carry us over the stream.
t>a 5-cascaíó beau ccmcmaiDe liomsa Sf S sjtytttil mtl a tenrfa Wlft
This lively air, — which is one of those alluded to, in the notice of the preceding melody, as
being obviously derived from it, — was set in 1853 from the singing of the Clare peasant,
Teige Mac Mahon. As will be perceived, its chief peculiarity consists in the substitution of
an expression of reckless liveliness for that of tenderness, which marks the original, and this
change of character has been chiefly effected by the close of the parts of the air on the fifth
or dominant note of the scale, instead of the descent to the tonic or key note, as in the pre-
sent melody. The Irish song to this air is not admissible in this work.
2 T
162
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
cecmc asns coileac a O'imcis le céile. % €uú aú a 3m tjjat mú nnt tngitlpr.
The following melody — which is the second of the derivative airs alluded to in the notice
of the melody given at page 160 — was also set from the singing of Teige Mac Mahon in
1853. Its changes from the parent air exhibit, however, a more correct and graceful fancy
than those of the air last given ; and upon the whole it is, as I think, a melody of far supe-
rior interest and beauty. The Irish song to this air is also inadmissible in this work.
0 • = Pend. 16 inches.
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3#tmstrr Sig— Jínmi1 onnsriírtninpíi.
The following characteristic Munster dance-tune, which is one of the class popularly termed
" common," or " double" jigs, appears, as I think, to possess much of the old march charac-
ter, so often found in this class of dance-tunes. It was noted during the past year from the
playing of Francis Keane, a native of the county of Clare, by whom it had been learnt
from the playing of his brother, one of the best professional fiddlers in the south of
Ireland; and, as Keane believes, it is one of the oldest of the Munster jigs.
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
163
uc uc on, as brceóice misi. (Dtlj nrjjnirc, it is sirklif 3 am.
The following fine old Munster air was noted some years since from the singing of Air.
Curry, and though it must be still a very popular melody in the southern counties, I have
never had the good fortune to meet with any other setting of it. Mr. Curry considers it to
be an air of considerable antiquity ; but he has never met with the original, nor any older
song to it than one written, during the latter half of the last century, by the clever, but de-
plorably licentious, Irish poet, Andrew Magrath, or, as he was commonly called, Mangaire
Sugach, or, " The Merry Pedlar," and which preserves the chorus of the original, or, at least,
some older song. Of this song — which is usually called Slan cois Maige, or, "Farewell to the
Maige" — Mr. Curry has supplied me with a copy ; and though I find it has been already
printed, with a generally very close metrical translation, by the late Mr. Walsh, I have con-
sidered it desirable to give it a place in this work ; not only to identify it with the air to
which it was written, and as a more accurate version of the song than that printed, but as an
unobjectionable specimen of the talents and thoughts of one of the most distinguished of a
class of men — usually hedge schoolmasters — who, for nearly a century, by their wriri: .
teachings, and, too generally, reckless lives, exercised an influence over the minds, and, as
may be feared, even the moral feelings, of the fine-hearted but excitable peasantry of Mun-
ster, to which too little importance has been hitherto attached by the Irish historian.
164
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
Sldn ip céb 6'n b-caob po uaim,
Coip TTldise na ccaop, na ccpaob, na ccpuac;
Ma pcdc, na pcéab, na paop, na pluag,
Na n-bdn, na n-bpéaco, na b-cpéan san Jpuaim.
Uc uc 6n, ap bpeóice mipi,
5an cuit», san cóip, jan cóip, jan cipbe;
J5an pule, jan póg, gan ppópc, gan ppionna,
O peólaó mé cum uaijnip.
Sldn 50 h-éas bd paop-pip puaipe;
Dd bdirii, bd cléip, ba h-éispib puag;
t)d cáipbib cléib, gan claon, jan cluam;
5an cdim, san cpéim, san cpaop, san cpuap.
Uc, uc 6n, "\G,
Sldn bd éip bd béicib uaim ;
t)d mndib 50 léip, bd pséirii, bd pnuab;
Dd ccdil, bd ccéill, ba ccéim, ba ccuaipb;
t)a b-ppdips, bd b-pléa, bd méin, bd m-bua&.
Uc, u6 6n, -\c.
Sldn cap aon bo'n bé b'dp bual,
Gn bdincnip béapac, béal-caip buaóac,
'Cuip cpdc cum pléib' mé 'ccém am puais;
lpí gpdó mo óléib bí n-Cpmn cuac.
Uc, uc 6n, -|C.
Gp pdnac paon mé, ppaoóriiap puap,
Qp cdiiilas qiéic, 'paP caomac qiuag;
Q m-bapp an c-pléib, jan aon mo nuap,
am pdipc acc ppaoc agup 500c acuaib.
Uc, uc 6n, mo bpón, mo milleab,
lomopcaió 61I íp pósa bpumngeal
'Cuip mipi leam' 16 gan pób san poicin,
lp póp $an lomab puabaip.
Do'n c-ppdib 'nuaip céim map aon ap cuaipb,
Uí h-áil leó mé, íp ní péibib leam cluain;
t>íb mndib le céile 05 pléa ód luaib,
Cd h-dic, ca h-é, cd caob ap gluaip.
Uc, uc 6n, -|c.
Dom' cdipbe am gaop ^an céacc ap cpuag,
'Smém' cpdó 'san paogal a n-géib pa n-5uaip;
Le pdice a b-péin a ccéin ap cuaipb,
^an dbacc gan psléip, jan pséil, bd luaó.
Uc, uc 6n, -|c.
Ó óáil an óleip bam céile nua,
Coip TTldige 50 h-éas ní h-é mo óuaipb;
50 bpdc leam' pé cdim péi& leam' cuaic,
'Sle mndib an c-paogail 'cuip mé ap buaipc.
Uc, uc 6n, ic.
An adieu and an hundred from this place I send,
To the Maige, of the roses, trees, and ricks ;
Of the steeds, the jewels, of the free, of the hosts ;
Of the poems, the ditties, the gloomless brave.
Och ochone ! it is sickly I am,
Without food, ease, company, or wealth ;
Without pleasure, comfort, sport, or vigour,
Since I have been driven into solitude.
Adieu till death to its free pleasant men ;
To its poets, its clergy, its bards, its scholars :
To its dear bosom friends, without perfidy or guile ;
Without fault, or blemish, waste, or penury.
Och ochone, &c.
Adieu henceforth to its maidens, from me ;
To all its women, to their beauty and comeliness ;
To their character, sense, their dignity, and gait ;
To then- playful manners, dispositions and virtues.
Och ochone, &c.
Adieu, above all, to her to whom it is due,
The white-skinned, accomplished, ruby-lipped maid,
Who has caused me to fly to the mountains afar ;
She is the love of my bosom, however, my cuckoo.
Och, ochone, &c.
I am a helpless wanderer, chilly and cold,
Sickly, debilitated, wretched, and poor ;
In the mountain's top, and, alas ! with none
To keep me company but the north wind and heath.
Och ochone, my grief, my destruction,
Too much drinking and kissing of girls
Has sent me for ever from land and from shelter,
And quite from all rambling pleasures.
To the town when I go, like others, to visit,
They receive me not, nor accept my conversation ;
Whilst the women with each other arguing say —
What is he? who is he? where did he come from ?
Och ochone, &c.
For my friends not to visit me is indeed pitiful,
While the world afflicts and enfolds me in peril ;
For a quarter of a year in painful exile,
Without action, or pleasure, or telling of news.
Och ochone, &c.
Since the clergy have decreed me a new wife,
The banks of the Maige shall I never again visit ;
For ever in this life I am done with my cuckoo,
And with all the world's brain-turning maidens.
And och ochone, &c.
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
165
€jjm tuns a té^ nil f kin nnii %m.
1 have been unable to find any ancient or popular name for the following melody, which
was noted in my boy-days from the singing of the Dublin street-ballad singers, amongst
whom it would appear to have been a favourite air, from its easy applicability to songs of
the usual octo-syllabic ballad metre. Of those songs, however, I have long ceased to retain
any recollection ; but as, within recent years, I have heard the air sung to the old English
nursery rhyme beginning with " There was a lady all skin and bone," I have, from want
of a better, adopted that line as a name for it, I should observe, however, that this old
nursery tale, as I have heard it sung, differs somewhat — as might be expected in verses
preserved by tradition only — from any of the English versions of it which I have seen in
print ; and though it may probably be more corrupted, it is certainly not less musical ; and,
moreover, it will sing more smoothly to the Irish melody with which it has been associated.
I am tempted, therefore, to annex it in a parallel column with the English version, as pub-
lished by Halliwell in his " Nursery Rhymes of England." In connexion with this song, it
may not, perhaps, be out of place to observe that the old ballad poetry of England appears
to have been more generally disseminated in the portions of Ireland occupied by the English
than has been hitherto suspected: but the melodies to which such ballads have been sung
were usually, as in the present instance, of unquestionably Irish origin.
2 u
166
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
" There was a lady all skiu and bone,
Sure such a lady was never known :
This lady went to church one day ;
She went to church all for to pray.
And when she came to the church stile,
She sat her down to rest a little while :
When she came to the ehureh-yard,
There the bells so loud she heard.
"When she came to the church door,
She stopt to rest a little more ;
When she came the church within,
The parson pray'd 'gainst pride and sin.
On looking up, on looking down,
She saw a dead man on the ground;
And from his nose unto his chin
The worms crawl'dout, the worms crawl'd in.
Then she unto the parson said —
Shall I be so when I am dead ?
Oh, yes ! oh, yes ! the parson said,
You will be so when you are dead."
There was a lady all skin and bone,
And such a lady was never known ;
It happened on a holyday,
This lady went to chmch to pray.
And when she came unto the stile,
She tarried there a little while;
And when she came unto the door,
She tarried there a little more.
But when she came into the aisle,
She had a sad and wofid smile ;
She'd come a long and a weary mile,
Her sin and sorrow to beguile.
And she walk'd up, and she walk'd down,
And she saw a dead man upon the ground:
And from his nose unto his chin,
The worms crept out, and the worms crept in.
Then the lady to the sexton said —
" Shall I be so when I am dead ?M
And the sexton to the lady said —
" You'll be the same when you are dead."
Mr. HaHiweU remarks that the last line of the fourth stanza, " slightly altered, has been
adopted in Lewis's ballad of ' Alonzo the Brave and the Fair Imogine.' " It will be per-
ceived, however, that the line in Lewis's ballad is more in accordance with the Irish than
with the English version.
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
167
• 51 mister 3ig— Júamt mnmúúnú.
The following old Munster jig was set by Mr. P. Joyce in 1852, from the whistling of
Michael Dineen, a farmer at Coolfree, in the parish of Ardpatrick, and county of Limerick :
and it had been learnt in his youth by Dineen, from the playing of James Sheedy, a cele-
brated Munster piper, who died, a very old man, more than thirty years ago. It is, as I
conceive, a tune very strongly marked with a true old Irish character ; and though, probably,
it is only known now as a dance-tune, its emphatic gravity of sentiment, as well as its
peculiar rhythmical accentuation, incline me very much to believe that, like many of our
finest dance-tunes, it had a march origin. I regret to add that Mr. Joyce was unable to
ascertain its name. As will be perceived, this air belongs to that class of dance-tunes com-
monly known as single jigs, and of which I have given a description at page 64 of the
present volume.
1*8 ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
<TIjr W'uútt it is pnst ; nr, £jjf € nrrnglj nf Mfoxt.
The following is one of the many airs noted in my young days from the singing of a near
connexion of my own, and which, as I have already stated, had been learned in that lady's
childhood from the singing of Betty Skillin. Other settings of the melody have been given
to me in subsequent years, including one recently noted for me by Mr. Joyce, from the
singing of Kate Cudmore, a peasant of Glenroe, in the parish of Ardpatrick, county of
Limerick. The settings of the air thus procured from different sources have not, as usual
amongst melodies only preserved by tradition, a perfect agreement ; but they present no
difference of sufficient importance to make the publication desirable of any other setting
than the one originally noted, and which I consider as the most genuine.
With that first setting of the tune, I also obtained from the same lady three stanzas —
which were all she could remember — of the old Anglo-Irish sons: which had been sung, and
had given name, to the melody: and Mr. Joyce has favoured me with a copy — very
corrupt, indeed — of the whole song, as taken down by himself from the peasant, Kate
Cudmore.
I have been thus circumstantial in the statement of these facts; because I have found
that this song has been more than once published in Scotland as a Scottish one, in con-
nexion with a melody undoubtedly of Scottish origin, but, as I think, of no great antiquity,
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
160
and most probably a composition of Oswald's, in whose " Caledonian Pocket Companion*'
it first appeared.
This Scottish claim to a song which I had for a long period undoubtingly believed to
be Irish, first became known to me on finding the first and second stanzas of it given as a
fragment in " Cromek's Relics of Robert Burns;" those stanzas having been found in the
poet's handwriting after his death. But, though Burns appears to have given a few touches
of his own to those stanzas, it was clearly an error to ascribe to him their authorship; for
those two stanzas, together with two others, given as the complete copy of the song, had
been previously printed in the first edition of Johnson's " Scots Musical Museum, vol. ii.
Edinburgh: 1787;" and this copy of the song only differs in a few words from a stall
edition of it, printed in Mr. Stenhouse's notes on the songs in the Museum. There is,
therefore, sufficient evidence to show that this song, or at least so much of it, was known
in Scotland during the latter part of the last century; and it is in the highest degree
probable that it was known as early as 1750, about which time the Scottish air to which
it has been united, and which, in my opinion, was obviously composed for it, first appeared
in Oswald's " Pocket Companion," as already alluded to, under the name of " The Winter
it is past."
The Scottish claim to this song, as well as to the tune to which it is sung, might, there-
fore, appear to be incontrovertible. But the same song, united to a melody unquestionably
Irish, has been equally, if not better, known in Ireland, and for an equal, if not a much
longer, period : and it appears to me, that of the claims of the two countries to this song, the
Irish one is decidedly the stronger ; for — without attaching much weight to the fact that the
Scotch have been more in the habit of appropriating the music and poetry of Ireland than
the Irish have been of taking such friendly liberties with theirs — the song, as sung in various
parts of Ireland for more than a century, contains stanzas which, if not somewhat unrea-
sonably assumed to be interpolations, very clearly establish it as of Irish origin. As evidence
of this fact, I here place before the reader the Scottish form of the song as given by J ohn-
son, as well as the Irish traditional form of it, which, in some parts, is unfortunately rather
imperfectly remembered. The Scottish form runs thus : —
The winter it is past,
And the summer's come at last,
And the small birds sing on every tree ;
The hearts of these are glad,
But mine is very sad,
For my lover has parted from me.
My love is like the sun,
In the firmament does run,
For ever is constant and true ;
But his is like the moon,
That wanders up and down,
And every month it is new.
The rose upon the brier,
By the waters running clear,
May have charms for the linnet or the bee ;
Their little loves are blest,
And their little hearts at rest,
But my lover is parted from me.
All you that are in love,
And cannot it remove,
I pity the pains you endure ;
For experience makes me know
That your hearts are full of woe, —
A woe that no mortal can cure.
The following is the Irish version of this ballad, as taken down from the singing
of Kate Cudmore ; but it is slightly corrected in three of the stanzas, as learned, about
2x
-
170
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
the year 1780, from Betty Skillin, by whom the latter half of each stanza, with its corres-
ponding music, was sung twice : —
The w inter it is past,
Ami the summer's come at last,
And the blackbirds sing on every tree ;
The hearts of these are glad,
But mine is very sad.
Since my true love is absent from me.
The rose upon the brier,
By the water running clear,
Gives joy to the linnet and the bee ;
Their little hearts are blest,
But mine is not at rest,
While my true love is absent from me.
A livery I'll wear,
And I'll comb down my hair,
And in velvet so green I'll appear ;
And straight I will repair
To the Curragh of Kildare,
For it 's there I'll find tidings of my dear.
I'll wear a cap of black,
With a frill around my neck ;
Gold rings on my fingers I'll wear ;
It is this I'll undertake
For my true lover's sake ;
He resides at the Curragh of Kildare.
I would not think it strange
Thus the world for to range,
If I only got tidings of my dear ;
But here in Cupid's chain,
If I'm bound to remain,
I would spend my whole life in despair.
My love is like the sun,
That in the firmament does run,
And always proves constant and true ;
But his is like the moon,
That wanders up and down,
And every month it is new.
All you that are in love,
And cannot it remove,
I pity the pains you endure ;
For experience lets me know
That your hearts are full of woe,
And a woe that no mortal can cure.
Haying thus placed before my readers the Scottish and Irish versions of this ballad, I
shall leave it to them to determine the relative claims of the two countries to its parentage ;
contenting myself with the remark, that if the stanzas in the latter which appear to give it
a decidedly Irish origin should be considered as interpolations, they are at least interpola-
tions of a date far anterior to the appearance of any of the Scottish versions hitherto pub-
lished ; and I cannot help thinking that any such assumption, as to interpolation, is by
no means probable, and is, as far as I am aware, wholly unsustained by any examples of
such a procedure as yet discovered in Ireland.
t»i m 5 sous bitnlium, bucnl seo, séio seo. 8}t jMji'a $n§.
I had for many a year felt a strong desire to obtain a correct setting of the following air,
— which is popularly known in the southern counties of Ireland as M The Smith's Song," —
from a supposition that it was one of those tunes connected with songs of occupation which
form so interesting a class of our melodies; but it was not till lately that I became pos-
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
171
sessed of a setting that appeared to me sufficiently accurate to be worthy of preservation.
This setting was noted for me by Mr. Joyce, in 1853, from the singing of Mai*}- Hackett,
a peasant woman of the parish of Ardpatrick, in the county of Limerick.
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I find, however, that I was in error in supposing that " The Smith's Song" was one ap-
propriated to the occupation of this most ancient and useful trade, which is one of too noisy
a nature to permit, conveniently, the habitual indulgence of song as a lightener of toil. The
smith may love music; but, while at his work, he can but occasionally administer to thai
love. "The Smith's Song" has, however, very evidently been suggested — like Handel's
" Harmonious Blacksmith" — by the measured time and varied tones of his hammers strik-
ing upon the anvil ; and its melody is therefore, in my mind, one of much interest as an
ancient example of imitative music. Nor is it, perhaps, less worthy of remark, that it is
to this amusing imitative characteristic that it most probably owes — despite of the some-
what unfit words connected with it — its general adoption by the Munster women as a nur-
172 ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
sery song to amuse a cross or crying infant ; for such has been the fact, as Mr. Curry
states in the following interesting notice, with which he has favoured me, of this old melody
and the songs which, in his youth, he had heard sung to it: —
" The song and tune of ' Ding dong didilium, Buail seo, seid seo,' must be one of
great antiquity. I scarcely ever heard it sung but to pacify a crying or cross infant ; and
then the woman sang it with a slow swinging motion of her body backwards and forwards,
and to either side, with the child in her arms, with no intention, however, to put it to sleep.
Sometimes there was no swing of the body ; but then the foot went down on the heel and
toe alternately, but in such a measure of time as resembled, in some way, the striking of the
iron on the smith's anvil, where he himself gave two blows with his lamh-ord, or hand-
hammer, for every one blow that the sledger gave with his ord mor, or big sledge. The
following is the old song which I have most commonly heard sung to it, and of which my
recollection has been recently revived and aided from hearing it sung by the poor blind
Limerick woman, Mary Madden.
ut)iTi5 bong Dioilium,
buail peo, péio peo;
Ding bons Oioilium,
buail peo, péio peo;
D1T15 00115 Oibilium,
bu ail peo, péio peo;
'Oimcig mo bean
Leip an cailiúin aépac.
Ni main a cím péin
Cuas na coppdn;
Wi maic a cim péin
Raman nd pleagdn,
Ó O'imcig uaim
TTIo pcuaipe mnd,
Le saije cpuag,
Jan buap san ppopdn.
Dins oons oioilium, -|c.
"Dins oong oioilium,
buail peo, péiD peo;
Dinj Oonj OiOilium,
buail peo, péio peo ;
Dins oonj OiOilium,
buail peo, péio peo;
"Dimcis mo bean
Leip an cailiúip aípac.
a bean fio Jfop
On bpollaij gliijil,
'b'peapp óuic pilleaO
lp na DU1I5 00 péioe,
Nd 00 gaba maic péin
50 bpdó a cpéijenn,
lp cpiall pip an cailiúp
Op puaiO na h-dpenn.
Oinj oon5 omilium, "jc
Ding dong didilium,
Strike this, blow this ;
Ding dong didilium,
Strike this, blow this ;
Ding dong didilium,
Strike this, blow this ;
My wife has gone
With the airy tailor.
Not well can I see
A hatchet or reapiug-hook ;
Not well can I see
A spade or a sleaghan [a turf-spade],
Since from me hath gone
My stately wife,
With a miserable gag,
Without cattle or purse.
Ding dong didilium, &c.
Ding: dong didilium,
Strike this, blow this ;
Ding dong didilium,
Strike this, blow this ;
Ding dong didilium,
Strike this, blow this ;
My wife has gone
With the airy tailor.
Thou stray-going woman
With the snow-white bosom,
It were better for you return
And blow the bellows,
Than your own good smith
For ever to abandon,
And be off with the tailor
All over Erinn.
Ding dong didilium, &c.
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
173
'Cinj bong oiOilium,
buail peo, péio peo;
t)iri5 Oonj Oioilium,
buail peo, péio peo;
O1T15 Oonj oioilium,
buail peo, péio peo;
'thmcig mo bean
Leip an cailiúip aépac.
Ca b-puil mo buacaill ?
buail peo, peto peo,
Ca b-puil mo neapc,
lp pnap mo céipbe?
Ca b-puil mo paóapc?
Cd'n aóapc ap m'éaOan
O O'éalaij; mo bean
Leip an cailiúip aépac.
Cinj Oonj DiOilium,
buail peo, péiO peo;
Cms oonj Oioilium,
buail peo, péio peo;
'Oimtig mo bean
Leip an cailiuip aépac;
'lp ní cabappaó mo copa me
Op poOap pao céiOe.
Ding dang didilium,
Strike this, blow this ;
Ding dong didilium,
Strike this, blow this ;
Ding dong didilium,
Strike this, blow this ;
My wife has gone
"With the airy tailor.
Where is my apprentice ?
Strike this, blow this;
Where is my strength,
And the perfection of my trade ?
Where is my sight ?
The horn is on my brow
Since my wife has eloped
With the airy tailor.
Dinw dong didilium,
Strike this, blow this ;
Ding dong didilium,
Strike this, blow this ;
My wife has gone off
With the airy tailor ;
And my legs would not carry me
Trotting a rope's length.
" It may be objected that the words ding dong, in the burden of this song, are modern;
but such is not the fact; for where the 'Annals of the Four Masters' record, at the year
1015, the death of Mac Liag, poet and secretary to Brian Boru, they also record the fol-
lowing verse, which it would appear was the last verse the poet composed while on his
death-bed, and which contains the very words in question.
" Q cluic acd 1 cinO m'aoaipt,
Doc pip ni ceccaic capaic;
Oo ní cú 00 oinjj, Oans,
lp Die pcencep an palann.
O bell, which art at my pillow's head,
To visit thee no friends come ;
Though thou makest thy ' ding dang,'
It is by thee the salt is measured.
" I have also heard the following verse sung to the same melody, at a rude play which
was carried on in the winter evenings, both by men and boys. A man sat in a chair, and
another man, or boy, came and laid his head in the seated man's lap, face downwards, and
his hand, palm opened and turned up, across his own back. The individuals around were
then named after the various implements in a smith's forge. The man in the chair sang
this verse, and at the end of it one of the bystanders gave the palm of the hand on the back
a slap with his own palm, as hard as he himself could bear. The man in the chair then
asked the stricken man who it was that struck him. He answered, ' Big Sledge,' 4 Hand-
sledge,' ' Hammer,' or whatever else he pleased ; and the striking continued — often by the
same person — until the guesser named the right person at last. Then the striker knelt
down, and went through the same course ; and so on all round.
" buail peo, 'Sedain fioba,
lpeal íp éaOcpom ;
buaileam 50 léip é,
Cpí na céile :
2 Y
Strike this, Shane Goblia,
Lowly and lightly;
Let us all strike it
Th vouch each other :
174
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
buaileam apíp é, Let us strike it again,
lp buaileam le céile ; And let us strike together;
'S buailimiD cuaipo aip, And let us strike all round,
go luac íp 50 h-éapjaió. Both quickly and smartly."
To these remarks of Mr. Curry I have only to add, that a melody called " The Smith's
Song" was sung by the late Mr. Horncastle, at his excellent Irish musical entertainments ;
but as he has not given it a place in the published collection of airs so sung, I am unable to
speak with any certainty as to its identity with the air here printed. I well remember,
however, that it was a tune of perfectly similar construction and rhythmical accent, and have
but little doubt that it was at least a version of this melody.
C'fjr jRlrlníitj nf tire Burp.
For the setting of the beautiful and, as I believe, very old melody which follows, I am in-
debted to the kindness of my friend Mr. J. E. Pigot, by whom it was obtained from a MS.
book of Irish songs and tunes which had been communicated to him by Mr. J. Hardiman,
of Gal way. I regret to add that I know nothing respecting the words sung to it.
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
The following old dance-tune belongs, as will be perceived, to the class popularly known by
the term Hop-jigs. It is a very favourite tune both in Munster and Connaught, and two sets
of it — very unlike each other, however — have been already printed in the Dublin monthly
magazine called " The Citizen." But as neither of these sets, nor any others that I have met
with, appear to me equal in character or correctness to the following, I have considered it
desirable to give it a place in this collection. For this version of the tune I am indebted to my
friend, Mrs. J. S. Close, a lady who in her early days had the best opportunities for learning
such tunes in their most authentic forms, and who profited so well by those opportunities,
that she plays them with a truthfulness, a spirit, and a raciness, it would be difficult to
rival, and scarcely possible to surpass.
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176 ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
%wst itrspisr nn nlít /riftó.
For this beautiful and most characteristically Irish melody, I am indebted to a lady of the
county of Londonderry, in which county it was noted. Unfortunately, however, I know
nothing of its history, or of the Anglo-Irish song which has given it a name ; but the mu-
sical reader will, I think, at once perceive its more than strong family likeness — notwith-
standing the difference in its time and rhythm — to the air called "Sly Patrick," in "Moore's
Melodies," and which is now better known by the name given to it from his beautiful song
"Has sorrow thy young days shaded." I have already, at page 159, remarked on an affi-
nity which, in certain points, the air of "Sly Patrick" apparently exhibits with the air there
given called " This time twelve months I married :" but that apparent affinity is not so
decided in character as to prohibit the idea of its being accidental. Its affinity with the
present ah' is, however, so decided as to leave no doubt of its being but a different version
of the same melody, — the difference in the two versions being chiefly in the time, accents,
and rhythm, and but slightly in the tune, of the notes themselves. Thus, the version of the
air called " Sly Patrick" has a six-eight time, with eight bars in each strain, while the ver-
sion here given has a three-four time, with twelve bars in each strain, or if written — as it
might be very properly — in nine-eight time, but four bars in each strain. And this diffe-
rence between those versions in time, rhythm, and number of measures, or bars, was easily
produced by the simple process of converting the first and second bars of the air, as written
in three-four time, into the first bar in six-eight time ; and the third bar of the former into
the second bar in the latter, — and so with the succeeding bars throughout the melody : and
vice versa, it is obvious that the air could be converted from a six-eight to a three-four time,
by a process equally simple. The facility with which these conversions may be made will,
however, be better understood by a comparison of the following notations of corresponding
portions of the two versions of the air.
l
2
s
3
— ! s
i
s
9
j- a -
1
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2
1 j .
3
i —
i
1-
5
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6 - ,
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i — .
■ 0 0 0
o
How far, however, this difference between those versions may be of an old date, or a
result of the avowed license which Moore indulged of altering the tunes to please his own
taste, or suit his convenience, it is now, perhaps, impossible to determine; as "Sly Patrick"
is one of the few airs in his collection not taken from previously printed sources with which
a comparison might be instituted. In both versions the air is perfectly Irish in construction,
as well as in flow of melody ; but, in the former characteristic, as I conceive — for the rea-
sons already adduced at pp. 53 and 98, in connexion with melodies of a similar construc-
tion— the version in triple time here given is more peculiarly Irish than the other; and,
upon the whole, I am strongly disposed to consider that it is the form of the air which
should be regarded as the more original and authentic.
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND. 177
0m
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Andante.
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The following air was noted in my boy days from the singing of the Dublin street-ballad
singers, during which time it was united to an Anglo-Irish ballad, called " Pretty Sally,"
which was very popular among the poorer classes of the people. The ballad of l' Pretty
Sally" was probably written about that period, but the air was certainly of an older date,
as it was then known to some of my young friends from the singing of their mothers, who
had not been born or reared in Dublin : and, I may add, as an interesting additional evi-
dence of its antiquity, that the melody is also known as a popular Manx air in the Isle of
Man, where it is sung to a Manx song called Isbel Falsey, or " False Isabel.''
2 z
178
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
1 j.0 j ' i
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l n i
cres. - -
m
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din
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i
ill
— n " 1
€jre fnhlfmnn's Orbiting.
The following simple ballad air, independently of any intrinsic merit it may be thought to
possess, has interested me, as I have no doubt it will, also, the majority of my readers, from
having been a favourite with the late J. Philpot Curran, partly, no doubt, from his admira-
tion of the ballad words connected with it. The setting of the melody, as sung by Mr.
Curran, was kindly communicated to me by his son, Mr. Wm. H. Curran, together with
the facts connected with it, as above stated. But, unfortunately, the latter gentleman can
only now remember, and that but imperfectly, one stanza of the ballad, the fifth, according
to the version which I shall presently lay before the reader. Subsequently, however, I be-
came possessed, from other sources, of three copies of the ballad, and three other settings of
the melody, all — as usual in such cases of tunes and words preserved only traditionally —
differing widely from each other. Of these, both tune and words, the first were obtained
from Mr. Joyce, by whom they were taken down from the singing of his brother, Mr.
Michael Joyce, of Glenasheen, in the county of Limerick ; the second from my own daugh-
ters, who had learnt them, in their childhood, from a nursery-maid, at that period belonging
to my family ; and the third from Mary Madden, the poor blind Limerick woman of whom
I have so often had occasion to make mention. Of the settings of the melody — being in-
disposed to express any opinion as to which should be considered the most authentic form
of versions so different from each other — I have considered it proper to give the three
settings which follow, namely, Mr. Curran's, my daughters', and Mr. Joyce's. With
respect, however, to the equally differing copies of the ballad, they are all so rude and im-
perfect as to be unworthy of publication. But, instead of them, I give insertion to a ver-
sion of the ballad composed by my friend William Allingham, from these various imperfect
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
179
versions, with as much fidelity to their general meaning and simplicity of language as was
consistent with a due attention to more correct rhythm and metre.
I once was a guest at a Nobleman's wedding ;
Fair was the Bride, but she scarce had been kind ;
And now, in our mirth, she had tears nigh the shedding ;
Her former true lover still runs in her mind.
Clothed like a minstrel, her former true lover
Has taken his harp up, and tuned all the strings ;
There, among strangers, his grief to discover,
A fair maiden's falsehood he bitterly sings.
" Oh! here is the token of gold that was broken ;
Through seven long years it was kept for your sake ;
You gave it to me as a true-lover's token ;
No longer I'll wear it, asleep or awake."
She sat in her place at the head of the table ;
The words of his ditty she marked them right well ;
To sit any longer this Bride was not able,
So down at the feet of the Bridegroom she fell.
" Oh! one, one request, my lord — one, and no other —
Oh! this one request will you grant it to me?
To lie for this night in the arms of my mother,
And ever, ever after to lie with thee."
Her one, one request it was granted her fairly ;
Pale were her cheeks as she went up to bed ;
And the very next morning, early, early,
They rose, and they found this young Bride was dead.
The bridegroom ran quickly ; he held her, he kiss'd her ;
He spoke loud and low, and he hearken'd full fain ;
He call'd on her waiting-maids round to assist her ;
But nothing could bring the lost breath back again.
Oh ! carry her softly, the grave is made ready ;
At head and at foot plant a laurel-bush green ;
For she was a young and a sweet noble lady ;
The fairest young bride that I ever have seen.
With regard to the settings of the air which follow, I should not fail, perhaps, to remark
upon the strongly marked discrepancies which they present, and to which I have already
alluded, as furnishing an addition to the many heretofore given, of the changes to which
airs only preserved by tradition are so frequently subjected. In these settings, as will be
perceived, the strong features, or outlines, of the air only are preserved in common, and
even these not perfectly, while their less essential colourings exhibit but little agreement.
180
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
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Third Setting.
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ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
181
€\i 3?nnr 3 pron? ftAm.
Of this fine melody I have only to remark, that it is one of the many airs which I noted
in my boy-days from the singing of the Dublin street ballad-singers; and that, like most of
the tunes so noted, I have never subsequently heard it sung, or met with a setting of it.
Of the Anglo-Irish ballad sung to it, I only preserved, as a name for the air, the few words
above given.
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For the following very pleasing ballad air, I am indebted to my friend Miss Holden, of
Blackrock, Dublin, by whose eminently talented sister, the late Mrs. Joseph Hughes, it was
noted many years ago from the singing of an Irish servant ; and, if I can trust my memory,
it was the tune of a once popular street-ballad. In its construction, however, it is not by
any means a characteristic Irish melody ; but rather, like many of such street-ballad airs,
one belonging to that numerous class, hitherto but little noticed, to which I have applied the
term Anglo-Irish.
3 A
-
182
0 — Pend. 14 inches.'
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
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€y Inmrnt nf Ilitljnríí (tatillim.
This simple air, consisting of four phrases, and which I have but little doubt is very
ancient, was noted last year from the singing of the blind Limerick woman, Mary Madden.
Of the words sung to it, and which have given to it the above name, Mr. Curry has sup-
plied me with the following copy, transcribed from a MS. in his possession. This song, as
Mr. Curry tells me, was written about the year 1750, by Richard Mor (or the big) Cantil-
lon, of Rath Fraoich — now Marland — between Ceann-a-Tochair, or, the Causeway, andBal-
lyheige, in the county of Kerry ; and it was addressed to the beautiful Bridget O'Halloran,
daughter of Maurice Mor O'Halloran and Catherine Mac Carthy, of the Marsud family. I
should observe that, as the melody has no second strain, or part, it must be sung twice to
each stanza of the song ; and from this circumstance I am strongly inclined to believe that
it is not the air to which the song was originally adapted.
Sldn leac a piúp,
Tíí puldip 6am 'beié ap piubal,
Le h-easla t»o rhaplab, 'p 50 5-caillpeá bo clú ;
Farewell, my friend,
I must be away,
Lest you be defamed, or your character lost ;
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
183
'S50 n-oéappaioe 50 h-dpo
5up liúm 'bí t>o pdipc,
0 moóail-bean, Oo geall Oam, 'p*50 meall ™é map
cdc.
Op mo luije bam' apéip,
t)o pmaoineap cpém' néal
5up píobpa 'caic paigeab learn, 'poo rhilL mé 50
h-aéib;
Cé geóbainn pínce pem' caob,
50 caoin ip 50 paon,
aóc bpígbeac na pinn popj, 6 caoib Loca léin.
t)o psptobapa ctigan,
50 caoin íp 50 ciúm,
Leicip paoi péala, cum éalaigce liúm ;
Q péapla na lúb,
TTIaTia n-béanaip-pi ptít),
t)éat> am' píobpa 'n-sleannca, nó a b-ceampall pd'n
úip.
THo cpeac ip mo óíc,
Nac í TTláipe 'cd na luíge,
Qjup bpígib an cúil cpaobaig 'beic caob liúm na
puíbe ;
5up le 5UC binn a cmn
C15 na póince bo'n lirm,
On piaó-poc 6'n 5-ceó-cnoc, 'pan pmólac bo'n
cpaoib.
Mdc búbac bocc an cdp,
'óeic 05 cuicim a n-gpdó
Le jile, le pmne, 'ple buise na mnd;
Q cpaob íp san cdim,
Nd'p cpéi5 piam a bldc,
'Ssup ap jaoióilse t>o léigpmn bo épéigib, a bdb.'
'Seo beannacc óuic uaim,
5an pcab, piap 6 cuaig,
Ó pdjann pí Rdié ppaoig, 50 b-céib t>o'n Cill
Tiluaip ;
a laeg 51I, 'pa uam,
Léab' céacc cúgam 50 luaé
'Sgeóbaip Idn an cige b'pdilcíb, íp Idn mf cum
puain.
Cpoióe cpdibce ap 30c aon
'Cabappaó ndipe ótjinn apaon,
lp béappac- $up bedpnapa bdn-cnip na 5-cpaob;
'Sjup Idn-piop óo'n c-paogal
Nd bedpnap piam lé
dec púspaó san cábacc, nó sdipe jan claon.
And that it might be said aloud
That you were partial to me,
0 modest woman, who favoured, but deceived,
like all others.
As I lay me down last night
1 thought in my sleep
That a fairy had shot me, and destroyed my
soul ;
And that I found at my side,
In her beauty reclined,
Bridget of the star-eyes, from the banks of Loch
Lein !
I have written to you,
Gently and timidly,
A letter well sealed, that you'd elope with me ;
And if this you wont do,
Thou pearl of the ringlets,
I shall be a sprite of the valleys, or in the church'3
deep mould.
It's my loss and my ruin,
That 'tis not Mary that's laid low,
And Bridget of the flowing hair to be placed by
my side ;
At whose musical voice
Come the seals from the deep,
The stag from the mist-crag, and the thrush from
the tree.
What a sad and poor case,
To be dying of love
For the whiteness, the fairness, and the softness of
the dame ;
O faultless fresh branch,
Which never lost its blossom,
It is in Gaelic I could trace all your graces, O maid !
Here is a blessing to you from me,
Without delay, to the north-west,
From its starting at Kathfree till it reaches Kill-
more ;
My bright fawn, and my lamb,
That you might come soon
To a houseful of welcomes, and a month for re-
pose.
Sore hearts be to those
Who would slander us both,
And say that I sullied the white-sided maid ;
While the world well knows
That I've done to her no more
Than sport without meaning, or laugh without
guile.
184
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
There is another stanza of this song, of which, however, Mr. Curry has no perfect
copy ; and the fragments of it which remain are of such a nature, that the loss as a whole
is, probably, not to be regretted.
The musical reader will not fail to perceive in this air the absence, so frequent in Irish
melodies, of the fourth of the scale, — for though it occurs at the commencement of the air,
it should be considered as unessential, and as a grace-note introduced by the singer.
péarala cm óúil óRao5ai$. í'ijr ^rarl of tip /taming tease*.
It was not till after the preceding melody, with the song and notice connected with it, had
been in the compositor's hands, and even corrected for press, that I discovered in my collec-
tion another and a finer melody, which, under the name above given, had been sung to the
same Irish song: and as this air, having a second strain, or part, which the other wants, is
much better adapted to that song, and is much more likely to be the tune to which it had
been written, I have deemed it desirable to give it a place in immediate connexion with the
former. The setting of this melody was given me by Mr. P. Joyce, who had learnt it from
the singing of his father, at Glenasheen, in the county of Limerick ; and its correctness has
been verified by a notation of the air which I made myself from the singing of the poor
blind woman, Mary Madden, from the same county.
• = Pend. 30 inches. ^
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ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
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185
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The following dance-tune has been obtained from the MS. book of dance-music — popular
in Ireland about the middle of the last century — of which I have already often spoken in
connexion with airs of the same class with which it has supplied me, and which have been
printed in the preceding sheets of the present volume. The tune is one which I would call
Anglo-Irish; and it is, probably, not much anterior in age to that of the MS. from which it
was copied.
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186
*
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
mo íhúiRNÍN 05. J&\ nmn ijnnng Dm.
The very beautiful air which follows, and which belongs to that narrative class of which I have
so often spoken, was obtained from a lady of the county of Londonderry, — an ancient prin-
cipality, which, in its wild mountain districts — still chiefly inhabited by the old Irish race —
lias preserved a large number of our native melodies, which are often but little known be-
yond their respective boundaries. The name Mo muirnin og sufficiently indicates the sen-
timent of the song which the tune was intended, or chosen, to express : but it requires no
index to its character ; for it breathes, in all its cadences, an expression of impassioned ten-
derness, unmixed with melancholy, which, from its immediate effect upon the heart, no
sensitive being, possessed of a musical ear, can for a moment hesitate to interpret. That
this melody is of, at least, a considerable antiquity, I have but little doubt; and this
opinion will probably be allowed by those theorists who consider that the absence of the
seventh tone of the scale — as observable in this air — is an evidence in favour of such
antiquity. But I confess that I have not been able to see sufficient reason for concurring
in such a theory ; and, independently of any such reason, I can readily believe in the an-
tiquity of an Irish melody, though it may not be wanting in this or any other tone of the
diatonic scale.
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
187
caoiNe. 2 lamentation.
As the following melody is the first of a class of which no example has been hitherto given
in this work, it may be expected that, in conformity with the usage which I have adopted
in similar instances, I should offer some general observations on the peculiar characteristics
by which such class of airs is distinguished ; and when I placed this melody in the hands of
the compositor, it was my intention to pursue this course. I find, however, that the very
limited space at my disposal, in this last sheet of the volume, will not permit me to do so
until a future opportunity ; and, for the present, I must be content with the simple remark
that the air is one of that most ancient and peculiarly Irish class called Caoines, or Lamen-
tations for the dead ; and that it was noted from the playing of Frank Keane, a native of
the southern part of the county of Clare, in which secluded district he had learnt it from
the singing of the women. Of the words sung to it, however, he has no recollection.
• = Fend. 18 inches.
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188 ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
C|l ImlMng Wilt
The following reel-tune has been taken from one of the O'Neill MSS. of Irish music of the
year 1787, and is most probaBly of Munster origin.
• = Pend. 10 inches. _
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The following air, as will be perceived, belongs to that peculiar class of Irish melodies to
which I have applied the term " narrative," and which I believe to be, at least generally, of
a considerable antiquity. Of its origin, however, I know nothing ; as it is one of the many
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
189
airs which I noted in my youth from the chanting of the Dublin street ballad-singers, and
of which I often, as in this instance, unfortunately neglected even to ascertain, or at least
to record, the Anglo-Irish ballad name.
= Pend. 14 inches.
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Of the following old air, which is both a song and a dance tune, a setting has been already
printed, under the name of " Helvick-head," in O'Farrell's "Pocket Companion;" but, as
that setting appears to be a much corrupted one, and is, moreover, greatly overloaded with
pipers' changes upon the original theme, I gladly give insertion in this place to the follow-
ing purer notation of the air, which I found in the old MS. book of dance-tunes of the
middle of the last century to which I have already often alluded. A different form of this
air, known by the Irish name Stad, arú Rogaire, stad, stad, or " Stop, arrah Rogue, will
you stop, stop," has also been printed by O'Farrell, as a different tune ; and this latter form of
the air has also been very popular both as a song and dance tune. And I should further
remark that, the fine Munster dance-tune called "The Hunt," — which I have printed at page
92 of this volume, — though in a different time, has, in its first strain, such a striking affinity
with the corresponding s rain of the present air, that there can be little doubt of the fanner
having been suggested by the latter.
3c
190
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
Jíitmi mtnsrrrtntErii.
The air I have now to present to the reader is another of the many fine melodies commu-
nicated to me by Mr. James Fogarty, and which he had learnt in his native parish of
Tibroghney, on the borders of the counties of Tipperary and Kilkenny. I regret, however,
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND. * 191
that he has forgotten its name; and that with the tune he has only transmitted to me a
brief notice, which I give in his own simple language : — " I found this air in my early
youth someway enchanting to my mind. The Irish song to it I fear is lost : it was a love-
song, mingled with patriotism."
The musical reader will perceive that this melody, which is perfectly Irish in structure,
is one of the many airs in which the seventh tone of the diatonic scale may be considered
as wanting ; for though it appears as a connecting link between the third and fourth sec-
tions of the melody, it is in no way essential, and might with perfect propriety be omitted.
51b n Inilnr nnír n fnliitrr mrrc ranlking onr itaf.
In the selection of the following air as a fitting close to this volume of the "Ancient Music
of Ireland," I have been less influenced by the character of the melody — manly and flowing
as it is — than by that of the Anglo-Irish ballad song which has been sung to it, and which
is remarkable not only for an expression of loyalty very rarely found in such compositions,
but also for the homely avowal of sentiments which — by a curious coincidence — will, at
the present time, find a very general echo amongst all classes in the empire. This ballad
song runs as follows : —
199
ANCIENT MUSIC OF IRELAND.
As a sailor and a soldier wore walking one dav,
Says the sailor to the soldier, >k I'm just going to pray ;
I am just going to pray for the good of our Queen,
And whatever, ever, I do pray for, you must answer — Amen!"
" The first thing we'll pray for, we'll pray for our Queen,
That she may live happy, and enjoy a long reign :
And where she has one man, I wish she had ten ;
We should never want to stand to aims, boys." Says the soldier — "Amen !"
" The next thing we'll pray for, Ave'll pray for good cheer,
That we all may live happy, and have plenty strong beer :
And where we have one quart, I wish we had ten :
We should never want for plenty strong beer." Cries the soldier — « Amen ! "
With respect to the time of the composition of this song, — from the references which it
contains to the government of a Queen, I should, with but little hesitation, ascribe it to the
reign of the last Queen, Anne : it could hardly, I think, be ascribed to an earlier age. And
with respect to the age of the melody — which has rather an Anglo-Irish character — I should
ascribe it, in its present form, to the same period. This melody, however, as I shall here-
after show, is but one of many existing modifications of an ail' far more ancient, and which
i> perfectly Irish in its construction and general character.
I have only to add that, for both air and words, I am indebted to Mr. Patrick Joyce, by
whom they had been learnt, many years since, in his native county of Limerick.
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INDEX.
[The names in italics refer to Airs printed in this volume. Where some of the numbers are between brackets, they refer to the pages
■where the articles commence: the numbers following them, without brackets, to the pages where the Airs are to be found.]
Abduction by the fairies, 75-6-7.
Advice, the, 78.
Qillinne (Loc) — (Loch Allen) — a Reel tune, 58.
All alive (Ldn béoóa), 41.
Allan's Return, (80), 81.
" Ally Croker," 87.
Along the Mourne Shore (Coip CUmri lilugbopna), 42.
Qn curhain leac an oi&ce úb bo 51 cú 05 an 6-puinne6i5 (see
Qp caob na cappaige bdine, By the side of the white rock),
141.
Anonymous Tunes. — Ballad Tune, 32 ; Song, 57 ; Sligo Air, 61 ;
a Hop Jig, 62; Military Air (or Chorus), 66; Military Song,
70; Jig, 71; Lullaby, 73; Song (" The Advice"), 78; Air of
Curran's "Monks of the Screw," 109; Ballad tune, 112; Bal-
lad tune, 123 ; a Double Jig, 127 ; Planxty, 129 ; Slow Air (of
a somewhat hymnal character), 130 ; a Quick March, 153 ;
Song, 157; A Munster Jig, 163; Ballad tune (" There was a
Lady all skin and bone"), 166 ; a Munster Jig, 167 ; Song, 174;
Song ("The Nobleman's Wedding"), 180; Song ("Never despise
an old friend"), 177; Ballad tune (" The hour I prove false"),
181; Lament (CdOine), 187; Ballad tune, 189; Song, 191;
Song ("As a Sailor and a Soldier"), 192.
Qoibell na Cpaige Léiée, the bean pi&e of the O'Briens of
Thomond, story of, 21, note.
Qp 6pmn m 'neópainn cé hi (For Ireland I would not, tell who
she is), 99.
" Arrah, my dear Eveleen," see Lntroduction, viii.
Qp caob na cappaige btíine (By the side of the white rock),
(137), 138, 139, 140, 141, 143.
As a Sailor and a Soldier were walking one day, (191 J, 192.
As I walked out one morning I heard a dismal cry, (148), 149.
dp maic an bume cú (You are a good man), (68), 69.
Op cpuag san peaca an rhaoip 05am (I wish the Shepherd's
pet were mine), (42), 43.
Athenry, Lady, — a planxty, by Carolan, (157), 158.
baile pdcpaic (Ballypatrick), (146), 147.
Ballad tune, popular (name unknown), 32.
ball pió&arhail, an (The silken article), 7.
Banshee's smooth hill, the (Reirj ónoc mna pige), 90.
'bean (o) an age, nac puaipc epm (O woman of the house, is
not that pleasant), (54), 55.
bean (an) 05 uapal (The young lady), (153), 154.
Beggarman, weary and wet, It was an old, (116), 117.
Bellew's March, Sir Patrick, 96.
Beside the' White Rock, (137), (142), 143.
3 D
Blackbird and the Thrush, The (Qn Ion bub 'pan pmólac), 148.
" Black Cloaks to cover Bobby," 91.
Blackpool, the Groves of, (108), 109, 110.
Black slender boy, the (On buacaill caol-bub), three settings,
(19), 22, 23.
Blackthorn (the) cane with a thong (Qn cána Dpofjeann éllle),
(36), 37.
Blackwater Foot, — a reel tune, 87.
bliaoain 'pa caca po 'póp mé (This time twelve months I mu
married), 159, 161, 162, 176-7.
Blew the Candle out, 63.
bóicpín bui&e, 05 an m- (At the yellow little road). (24), 25.
Brown thorn, the (Dpoignean t)onn), see Introduction, xvii.
buacaill caol-bub, an (The Black Slender Boy), three settings,
(19), 22, 23.
Bunting's theory of the characteristics of Irish Melody, 48.
Bunting's theory of the immutability of traditionally preserved Me-
lodies, Lntroduction, xiv. xv.
By the side of the White Rock (Qp caob na cappaige btíine\
(137), 138, 139, 140, 141, 143.
Cailfn a Cige rhoip (The girl of the great house), (49). 51.
Cailfn ban (an) (The fair girl), (45), 47.
Cailin pua&, an (The red-haired girl), (1), 3.
Cork setting of the air, . . 4.
Cailleaca cúigib UlaÓ (The hags of Ulster), (122), 123.
Cdna (an) bpoígeann éille (The blackthorn cane with a thong),
(36), 37.
Cantillon, The Lament of Richard, (182), 184.
Caome (Lamentation), 187.
Cá pabdip anoip a cailfn bis (Where have you been, my little
girl), (66), 67.
Carlow air, 100.
Carolan (see O Ceapballam).
Cappaise bdine, ap caob na (By the side of the white rock),
(137), 138, 139, 140, 141, 143.
Cappibec bdn (White Cassidy), 21.
Cassidy, White (Cappibec bdn), 21.
Catholic Boy, The, 144.
Cavan airs, pp. 42, 64, 69, 72, 119, 137.
" Cavan O'Reilly," 72.
Ceapc 05up coileac a b'inicij le céile (A cock and a hen th.:t
went out together), 162.
Characteristics of certain airs consisting of an uneven number of
Phrases, 56.
Characteristics of Irish Melody ; Buutiiiijs theory, 48.
194
INDEX.
Clare airs, 8, 9, 24, 30, 43, 55, 56, 64, 84, 97, 121, 124, 130,
141, 145, 153, 159, 161, 162, 163, 187.
Cleapai&e pip 015, an (The cunning Young Man), 6.
Clontarf, March played on the return from the Battle of, 31.
Cock (a) and a hen that went out together (Ceapc agvjp COlleaÓ a
b'imcig le óéile), 162.
Coip cuain ITIug&opna (Along the Mourne shore), 42.
Coola Shore, 119.
Cork airs, 4, 33, 34, 49, 68, 92, 97.
Cormac Spaineach, or, The Drummer, (33), 35.
Copmac Spdmeac, no, Qn Dpumabóip (Cormac Spaineach, or,
The Drummer). (33), 35.
" Cove of Cork, The," 108.
"Cuckoo's a fine bird, The," 95.
Cuippmn-pi (bo) péin mo leanab a óo&lao (I would put my
own child to sleep), (144), 145.
Cúl (a) tílamn beap (0 thou of the beautiful hair), (155), 156.
Cunning Young Man, the (Qn cleapaibe pip Ó15), 6.
Curragh of Kildare, The, 168-9.
X)a 5-capcaib bean canapai&e liompa (If I should meet a tan-
ner's wife), 161.
Da b-céiom 50 cóbac (If I should go to a clown), (103), 104,
105.
Dance music of Ireland, the, 49, 53, 58.
Dance-tune, or Song for Dancing, from Sarlat, Department of Dor-
dogne, in France, 63.
David Foy, or, Remember the pease-straw, 102.
Oéanpab bam' gpáb seal, ucc pgacdm glan (I'll make my
love a breast of glass), (67), 68.
Dear to me the big Jug, and it full (TTlo jjpd&pa an Jug móp ip
é lán), (125), 126.
Derry airs, 19, 33, 47, 57, 72, 78, 115, 118, 134, 186.
t)in5 bong bibilium, buail peo, péib peo (Smith's Song), (170),
171, 172.
Division of Irish vocal melodies according to their metrical construc-
tion, Introduction, xvi. xvii.
Oonncab (a)na bi bagapcac (Oh, Donogh, don't be threatening),
132.
t)omnall 0 o"PaeD (Donnell O'Graedh), (151), 152.
Double Jig, (he (see Jig dances), 49.
Donegal, 116.
Down, 42.
" Down among the Ditches O," (120), 121.
Drink, spring into the (Ppeab annpa n-6l), (127), 128.
" Driving the Steers," 108.
Dpoigneann bonn, an (The Brown Thorn), see Introduction, xvii.
Opuimpionn bonn bflip, (114), 115.
Druiminn donn, the, (114), 115.
Drummer, The, or, Cormac Spaineach, (33), 35.
Faelan (see Sally Whelan), 121.
Fair Girl, the (On cailín bdn), (45), 47.
Fairies, account of the, 75.
"False Isabel," 177.
Farewell to the Maige (Sldn coip lTlaise), 163-4.
Peab an oipirii (The Ploughman's Whistle), (26), 28, 29.
Pcapp (b') liompa ammp gan guna (I would rather have a
maiden without a gown), 52.
pilleab ó pne §all, an (The Return from Fingal), 31.
Fingal, The Return from (On pilleab 6 pne gall), 31.
Flaxsary (pia^papaib), 15.
For Ireland I would not tell who she is (dp epinn ni 'neópamn
cé hi), 99.
Forlorn Virgin, The, 82.
Foy (see David Foy), 102.
French dance-tune, ancient, 53.
puipip (b') cú aicne na paéa cu TCoipi 'piam ('Tis easily known
that you never saw Rosy), 72.
" Gae to the Ky wi' me, Johnny," 108.
Galway airs, 45, 55, 82, 86, 122-3, 126, 148, 152.
Gerald, Lament for, 91.
Girl of the great house. The (Cailín a Cl §6 rhoip), (49), 51.
Slu'S1? a rhabip (The splashing of the Churn), 81.
Gobby O, The, 103.
" Good morrow to your nightcap," (33), 35.
Good night and joy be with you all, 80.
5opca cúgacpa, ip (" And hunger to you"), (33), 35.
" Groves of Blackpool," (108), 109, 110.
"Has sorrow thy young days shaded," original air of, 159, 161,
162, 176.
Hautboy, The Irish, (135), 136.
" Helvick Head," 189.
He's gone, he's gone (D'imcig pé 'gup b'imeig pé), (47), 48.
Hewson, Molly (TTIaipe ni maceafta), 40.
Hindoo airs, their resemblance to the Irish, 27, 28, 144-5.
Hindostanee Lullabies, allusions to, 73, 117, 144-5.
" Hó bó, hóbobobo," — a Plough Tune, 30.
Hop-jig, the structure of the, 53, 62.
"Housekeeper, The" (see Cailin a cige riloip), (49), 51.
Hunger to you, And (Ip gopca cugacpa), (33), 35.
Hunt, The (Galtee, or gailce), 92, 189.
If I should go to a Clown (Dd b-célbin 50 CÓbac), (103), 104, 1 05.
If I should meet a tanner's wife (t)a 5-capcaib bean canapmoe
liompa), 161.
" If sadly thinking," rhythm of Curran's song, 46.
I'll be a good boy, and do so no more, (63), 64.
I'll make my love a breast of glass (Déanpab bam' gpdb geal.
ucc pgacdm glan), (67), 68.
Imcig (b') mo gpdb— 'cd mo cpoibe cemn (My Lover has gone —
my heart is sore), 44.
lmcij (b') pé 'gup b'imeig pé (He's gone, he's gone), (47), 48.
Inaccuracies in Bunting's settings of airs, Introduction, xvi. xvii.
Instrumentalists not such good authorities for ancient tunes as vocal
perftwners, though preferred by Bunting, Introduction, xvi.
" Isbel Falsey," or False Isabel (177), 178.
" It was an old beggarman, weary and wet," (116), 117.
I once loved a boy, (78), 79.
I will drink no more on those roads of Sligo (Nl olpa tllé Tíf'p mo
ap na bóiépe peo SI1515), (7), 8.
" I will pay them yet," 107.
I wish the French would take them, (136), 137.
1 wish the Shepherd's pet were mine (dp cpuag gan peaca an
maoip 05am), (42), 43.
1 would put my own child to sleep (t)o cuippinn-pi pém mo lea-
nab a coblab, (144), 145.
I would rather have a maiden without a gown (b'peapp liompa
amnip gan guna), 52.
"Jack the Drummer," (34), 35.
Jenny, (oh), you have borne away the palm (Q pméab CU5 CÚ an
61Ú leac), (32), 33.
Jigs and Dance-tunes [see also "Reels," and " Planxties"]. —
The Silken Article, 7 ; Melancholy Martin, 19 ; The Blackthorn
Cane vnth a Thong, 37; All Alive, 41 ; The Girl of the great
House, 51 ; A Hop-jig, 62 ; I'll be a good Boy, 64 ; Jig (ori-
INDEX.
195
ginal air of " The Washerwoman"}, 71; Good night, and joy
be with you all, 80; The splashing of the Churn, 81; The
Gobby 0, 103 ; The old Woman lamenting her Purse, 106 ; The
Pipe on the Hob, 114; The Hags of Ulster, 123 ; A Double
Jig, 127; A Double Jig, 163; A Single Jig, 167; The Rocky
Road, 175; Kitty Magee, 185; The Priest with the Collar, 190,
and p. 131.
Jig-dances, on, 49, 53, 62, 64.
Johnny, (oh), dearest Johnny, 134.
Kerry airs, 11, 33, 49, 68, 91, 97, 99, 182-4.
Kildare, The Curragh of, 168-9.
Kilkenny airs, pp. 4, 29, 34, 66, 70, 80, 88, 97.
King of the Rath, The (Rig an Raca), (4), 5.
King's County, 28.
Kitty Magee, 185.
Lady Athenry, a Planxty by O'Carolan, (157), 158.
Lady Wrixon, a Planxty by O'Carolan, 39.
Lamentation, A (CdOlTie), 187.
Lament for Gerald, The, 91.
Lament of Richard Cantillon, The, (182), 184.
Ldn béo&a (All alive), 41.
Last Saturday Night as I lay in my Bed, (100), 101.
Leitrim airs, 58, 127.
Let us be drinking, drinking, drinking (Ip blmft) 05 01, 05 61, 05
61), (130), 131.
Limerick airs, 34, 49, 52, 64, 73, 97, 114, 132, 141 145, 153,
155, 167, 168, 171, 178, 184, 192.
Loo Gillinne (Loch Allen), 58.
Loch Allen, a Reel-tune (Loc Gillirme), 58.
" Loch Sheelin," see Introduction, viii.
Lon bub (an), 'pan pmólaó (The Blackbird and the Thrush), 148.
Loobeens, on the tunes called, 83.
" Luggela," see Introduction, viii.
Luibin, 83.
i/Uinnioc, or Luinigs ; the Scottish, 83.
Lullabies, — Seo hu léo, a puancpai&e, or magical sleeping
tune, 73; Lullaby, 118; I'd put my own child to sleep (peó
h-ín peó), 145.
Lullaby (Seo hu leo), 73, and see 146.
Lura, Lura, no da lura, 84.
Mac Carthy (Cormac Spaineach), of Carrig-na-var, 34.
Mac Carthy, the March of the tribe of, (34), 35.
Mac Donnell (see Shane Claragh).
Mac Mahon, of Carrigaholt, Legend of, 76.
Magee, Kitty, 185.
Tnaige, plan coip (Farewell to the Maige), 163-4.
TTIaileó lépó, ip ímbó népó, — a Spinning-wheel tune, (82), 84.
lllaipe ni lilaceaóa (Molly Hewson), 40.
Manx song of " False Isabel," (177), 178.
lTltípcan búbac (Melancholy Martin), 19.
Mayo airs, 17, 44, 45, 127-8.
" Meeting of the Waters," the original of the air set by Moore to the,
(36), 37.
Melancholy Martin (111 dp can búbac), 19.
Military music of ancient Ireland, 4.
Military Music — Ree Raw, p. 5; The Return from Fingal, 31;
March of Mac Carthy Spaineach, 35; March, 66; March, 70;
Good night, and joy be with you all, 80 ; The Hunt (Galtee, or
police Hunt), 92 ; Sir Patrick Bellew's March, 96 ; Quick
March, 153.
TTIo gpábpa an Jug móp ip é Itín (Dear to me the big Jug, and
it full), (125), 126.
ITlomin, 51.
" Molly Hewson," 40.
TTlo ihuipnin 05 (My own young dear), 186.
Moneen jigs, 51.
Monks of the Screw, original air of Curran's song of the, (107), 10S,
110.
! Mourne, the, county Down (see " Along the Mourne Shore"), 42.
My Love is upon the River (Ga mo gpób pa ap an abainn),
(37), 38.
My Love will ne'er forsake me (Ml épei5pi6 mo gpú& 50 beóló
mé), (17), 18.
My Lover has gone, — my heart is sore (b'lmcig mo oT^b, — T<S
mo cpoi&e ceinn), 44.
My ownyoung Dear (lllo riiúipnín 65), 186.
Nancy, (oh), Nancy, don't you remember, (110), 111.
Nancy the pride of the East, (97), 99.
Narrative tunes, characteristics of, Introduction, xvii.
" Nay, tell me not, dearest," — Moore's, 132.
Never despise an old Friend, (176), 177.
Ni olpa mé ní'p mo ap na bóiépe peo PI1515 (I will drink no
more on those roads of Sligo), (7), 8.
Ni cpeigpib mo gpdó 50 beóib mé (My Lore will ne'er forsake
me), (17), 18.
Nobleman's Wedding, The (three settings), (178), 180.
Nópa an cúil ómpa (Nora of Ihe amber hair), 88, 90.
Nora of the amber hair (Nópa an cúll Ómpa), 88, 90.
O'Brien, Morogh, story of, 21, note.
Ó Ceapballam (or O'Carolan), 11, 13, 39, 41, 127, 149, 157.
O'Flinn, a Planxty, by O'Carolan, (149), 150.
O'Graedh, Donnell (Dorhnall O Spaeo), (151), 152.
O'Hartigan, Dubhlaing, story of, 21, note.
O'Reilly, Cavan, 72.
Och ochone, itissickly lam (Uc u6 6n, ap bpeóice mipi), 163,
165.
" Oh Johnny, dearest Johnny," 134.
" Oh, rouse yourself, it's cold you've got," (132), 133.
" Oh, Sheela my Love, say will you be mine," (134), 135.
Oh, thou of the beautiful Hair (Q cul dlamn beap), (155), 156.
" Oh, ye Dead," the original air of, a plough tune, 26.
Ó'5-P'P (a) gpoi&e cópaig (O brave, generous young Man), 95.
01 (ip burnt) 05 61, 05 61, 05 01) (Let us be drinking, drinking,
drinking), (130), 131.
" Old head of Denis, The," 36.
Old Woman lamenting her Purse, The, 106.
One Sunday after Mass, (112), 113.
Ópó a cumam gil (O thou fair loved one), 124.
Ópó 'rhóp a lllóipfn (120), 121.
Oro mor, O Moirin, (120), 121.
Oro thou fair loved one (ópó a cumain gll), 124.
Patrick, Bally (baile pdcpaic), (146), 147.
Péapla an cúil cpaobaig (The Pearl of the flowing Tresses). 184.
péapla an 6ml ómpa, 88.
péapla an bpollaig bdin (The Pearl of the white Breast), (9), 10.
Pearl of the flowing Tresses, The (péapla an CÚll cpaobaig). 184.
Pearl of the white Breast, The (Peapla na bpollaig bdin), (9), 10.
" Pease upon a trencher," the original air of, (32), 33.
Pease-straw, Remember the, 102.
Persian Lullabies, allusions to, 73, 117, 144-145.
Phrases, airs having an uneven number of, 56.
Pipe on the Hob, the, 114.
196
INDEX.
piancpeaiÓ, yie 6 Ceapballain (Planxty, by Carolan), (11), 12.
Planxtles.— Planxty, by Carolan, 12 ; Lady Wrixon, 39 ; A
Planity, played as a Double Jig, 127; Planxty, 129; Planxty,
131; Planxty O'Flimi, 150; Lady Athenry, 159.
Planxty, ou the characteristics and origin of the, 13.
Planxty, by Carolan (Listowel), (11), 12.
piéopaca (see piancpcaib).
Pleraca, or Planxty (see Planxty), and 16.
Plough ; the Driver, Tailsman, and Thirdman of the, 29.
Plough Tune, Hóbo, hóbobobó, 30.
Plough Tunes.— 28, 29, 30, 132.
Ploughman's Whistle, 132.
Ploughman's Whistle, The (peab an orpiril), (26), 28, 29.
Pope, a tune, 13.
Ppeab annpa n-ól (Spring into the Drink), (127), 128.
Pretty Sally, (177), 178.
Priest with the Collar, The (Sasapc an bonab), (189), 190
Red-haired Girl, The (On cailín puaÓ), (l),-3.
Cork setting of the air, . . 4.
Ree Raw (see TJ15 an paca).
Reel Dances, on the Irish and Scottish, 58.
Reels. — / wish the Shepherd's pet were mine, 43 ; Loch Allen
(Qillmne), 58 ; Blachwater Foot, 87 ; The Strawberry Blossom,
133; The Lrish Hautboy, 136; The Scolding Wife, 188.
TCeib cnoe nina pifte (The Banshee's smooth Hill), 90.
" Remember the Pease-straw," or " David Foy," 102.
TC15 an TCaca (The King of the Rath), (4),-5.
Rocky Road, The, 175.
TCoip geal bub (The fair-skinned black-haired Rose), (93), 95.
Tioipin Dub (Black [haired] little Rose), 93.
Rogue (Scat), apú TJojaipe, pcab, peat)), 189.
Rose, The fair (skinned), black (haired) (Roip Seal t>ub), (93), 95.
SaSb ní paeláin (Sally Whelan), (121), 122.
Sasapc an bonab (The Priest with the Collar), (189), 190.
Sally, Pretty, (177), 178.
Sally Whelan (Sabb nl paeldm), f!21), 122. ■
Sarlat, Department of Dordogne, in France, 53.
Scolding Wife, the, 188.
Scorching is this Love, (68), 69.
'Sedam goba (Shane Gobha), 173.
Seo hu leo (Lullaby), 73.
Shane Claragh Mac DonnelTs Poem on Cormac Spaineach Mac
Carthy, 34.
Sheela (oh), my Love, say will you be mine, (134), 135.
Sickly I am, och ochone it is, 163.
Silken Article, The (Gn ball pióbarhail), 7.
Sin binn bubbapo, — a Spinning-wheel tune, (86), 87.
SinéaÓ cu5 cú an clú leac, a (0 Jenny, you have borne away
the palm), (32), 33.
Single Jig, the (see Jig-dances), 49, 65.
Sit here, Oh Murneen, near me (SUI5 annpo a TTIÚipnín lairfl
liom), 56.
Sldn leac a piúp (The Lament of Richard Cantillou), 182.
Sligo (see " I will drink no more"), (7), 8.
Sligoairs, 7, 36, 61, 68, 137.
" Sly Patrick," the air called, 159, 161, 162, 176.
Smith's Song, The (Dins Dons bibilium, buail peo, péib peo),
(170), 171, 172.
Songs (see Vocal Music).
Spinning-wheel tunes (82-3), 84, (86), 87.
Splashing of the Churn, The (^luigip a rhaoip), 81.
Scab, apú Tiosaipe, pcab, pcab (Stop, arrah Rogue, will you stop,
stop), 189.
Strawberry Blossom, the, 133.
Suancpaibe, The, or sleep -disposing tunes of the Cuaca bé Da-
naan, 73.
SU15 annpo a TTlúipnín lairh liorn (Sit here, oh Murneen, near
me), 56.
Ca mo spdb pa ap an abainn (My Love is upon the river), (37),
38.
Tatter the road, (64), 65.
" The hour I prove false,'" 181.
" There was a Lady all skin and bone," (165), 166.
This time twelve months T married (bliabain 'pa caca po 'póp
mé), 159, 161, 162, 176-7.
Tipperary airs, 147, 156-7, 190-1.
'Tit easily known that you never saw Rosy (b'puipip CÚ aicne na
paca cu Roipi 'piain), 72.
Token, The, (181), 182.
Cuaca bé Danaan, the (Fairies), 75.
"Tweed, The Banks of the," 97.
He uc 6n, ap bpeóice mipi (Och ochone, it is sickly I am),
(163), 165.
Ulster, the Hags o/(Caillea6a cúisib Ulab), (122), 123.
Vocal music, structure of the Irish, 45, 53.
"Washerwoman," the original form of the, (70), 71.
" Were I a clerk," see Lntroduction, viii.
Wexford airs, 103, 149, 152-3.
"What pain I've endured since last year," 108.
Whelan, Sally, 121.
"When I rise in the morning with my heart full of woe," 119.
When she answered me her voice was low, 69.
Where have you been, my little girl (Cd pabtíip anoip a cailfn
bis), (66), 67.
White Rock, By the side of the (Op caob na cappaise báme),
(137), 138, 139, 140, 141, 143.
Wicklow. 7.
Wife, the scolding, 188.
Winter it is past, The; or, The Curragh of Kildare, 168.
Woman (O) of the house, is not that pleasant (O bean an cige,
nac puaipe epm), (54), 55.
Wrixon, Lady, — a Planxty by O'Carolan, 39.
yellow little Road, At the ((J5 an m-bóltpln buibe), (24), 25.
" You and I will be judged in one day," 115.
" You are a good Man" (dp maic an bume CÚ), (68), 69.
young Lady, The (Qn bean 65 uapal), (153), 154.
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